The Heir Of The Exiled
by One Half
Summary: Same world, same guild. Only one difference - it was not Igneel who raised Natsu. What could change if another person raised him? May be nothing, may be everything. Let's find out, shall we? NatsuXErza at the foreground, Rated T to be safe.
1. The Son of the Goddes

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and some Rave Master names and references belongs to Hiro Mashima**

Good news, everyone! Oh, well, may be not so good… Anyway, I need a bit of time to accumulate some new ideas for my other story, and while I doing so I'll write this one =)

You see, I thought about "alternate canon" story for some time, and now I finally decided to do it =)

* * *

A few things before we start. All canonical characters will be unchanged, except two of them.

First one is Natsu. He will be completely OOC… Well, actually he will get part of my own personality =) Natsu will be much smarter (xD), sarcastic and slightly insolent, but still quite a good guy (xD) Also he is one year older than canonical Natsu (I want him taller).

And second one is Happy. Well, there will be no Happy in my story, at least not as a Fairy Tail member. Sorry people, but he will be replaced by another character as Natsu's friend and partner.

Also Erza could be slightly OOC because of... well, you'll see by yourselves.

* * *

Main pairing will be Natsu X Erza, others will be paired as I'll see fit.

Characters appearance is unchanged, except Natsu who will wear his X791 clothes from the beginning (there are reason for it). His one-sleeved coat is a bit longer, and embroidered with gold patterns. Also he has no scarf because he has another person as his parent, so he got another gift.

This story will be packed with battles and combat scenes to the full extent, yet you should expect fair amount of humor.

…

…Well, I think this is all that I wanted to say for now. Let's start, shall we?

* * *

**Chapter I – The Heir Of The Supreme Goddess**

…

Year 784, July 2nd, 11 AM, Town of Harujeon, train station.

"Now, Sin, remind me please, why did I have to take the train instead of flying on your back?" The salmon-haired young man, dressed in a long, black with gold patterns, and very pricy one-sleeved coat, addressed his familiar. Natsu appeared from the train carriage and moved towards his partner, apparently named Sin, as he was talking with him. The man's left hand was encased in a black leather glove.

"Because I'm not a donkey to carry you around the whole time and because you insulted me yesterday," Sin answered imperturbably. He was a very strange creature; he could be referred to as a little dragon. He might have looked very cute and funny if he had some flesh on his bones. The little skeletal dragon (half as much again Happy), whose bones were enveloped in mysterious blue glow, seemed too exotic even for a magical kingdom of Fiore.

"And how exactly did I insult you?" Natsu asked acidly.

"You called me a clumsy ass, so I decided to let you use something less clumsy than I am and pay for tickets," Sin answered with the same imperturbable tone.

"You turned that little statue to dust with your own ass! The statue we were supposed to guard from bandits!" Natsu exclaimed in annoyance.

"It was my tail, not my ass!" Little dragon raised his voice too, it looked like Natsu had hit a sore point.

"Who cares?! We got no money! If because of you this red-haired upstart will be able to earn more money than I do this month, you'll be sorry!" Natsu snorted. "And now you've made me lose even more time by forcing me to use a train. Come on, we have to find our client and do this mission ASAP!" The salmon-haired mage ignored townsfolk that turned around to look at the very noisy and odd couple.

"Screw you! You are the one who made the bet, why the hell should I deal with it too?!" Sin growled.

They left the station, still arguing along the way.

* * *

Year 784, July 2nd, 11:45 AM, Town of Harujeon, downtown.

"EEEEH!? This is the only magic store in the entire town?!" A blonde haired girl exclaimed after hearing the storekeeper's little promotion.

"Yes… This town is more prosperous in fishing than magic to begin with. Unfortunately only less than ten percent of the town's people can use magic, so this store in mainly targeting traveling mages." The shopkeeper explained, making the girl sigh heavily.

"Right... I think I've wasted my time then..." She said to herself, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Hey now, please don't say that and have a look around," the shopkeeper said as he motioned to his other magical goods. "We have plenty of magical items, and a bunch of new stuff came in a while ago." He reached under the counter and brought out a card with the word "colors" on it and a glass ball at the top. "This colors magic is probably the most popular among girls. Depending on your daily mood, you can change the color of your outfit!" He demonstrated by turning his shirt a different color.

"I already have it," the girl said as she stared at some of the other items, unsure of what some of them actually were. "What I'm really looking for is the Keys of the Gates, strong ones…"

"Gates, huh? Now that's something uncommon…" Lucy, however, did not hear him because something had caught her attention as she looked at a box on the shelf behind the shopkeeper. She got closer to the counter to have a better look at the silver key inside.

"Ah! White doggy!" She said with glee.

"Yes, but that's not strong at all," The shopkeeper commented but the girl shook her head.

"It's okay, I've been looking for it!" She said enthusiastically before she asked the most important question. "How much is it?"

"It's 20,000 jewels."

The girl became silent for a few seconds before asking again, "I'm sorry, I wonder how much is it?"

"I said it is 20,000 jewels," the storekeeper said again.

The girl leaned against the counter, revealing a huge amount of cleavage to the shopkeeper; she crossed her arms under her breast to make them pop out more. The zipper on her top seemed to lower itself due to the pressure.

"Oh come on now… I wonder how much it really is… Dandy Mister?" she asked while finishing with a seductive wink. The storekeeper became quiet for a moment before speaking…

* * *

A few minutes later...

"Tch!" The blonde scoffed as she walked down the street in a huff. "He only gave me a 1,000 jewels discount… Is my sex appeal only worth 1,000 jewels?!" She yelled angrily as she kicked down a café sign.

Her attention was taken when she heard girls screaming in delight. "Huh? What's going on?" She asked herself as girls ran passed her in a hurry, towards a large crowd nearby. While staring at the crowd in confusion, Lucy heard another pair of girls behind her talking as they were running towards the crowd, which consisted mostly of teenage girls.

"A famous mage-sama is in town!?"

"It is Salamander-sama!"

"Salamander… Famous mage?" Blonde said to herself, "Why I never heard of them?…" Lucy looked at crowd before she got some idea. "Hmm… This nickname is fit for a mage who controls **Hi no Mahō **[Fire Magic], which can't be bought in stores… Okay, maybe I should take a look at him…" She said to herself as she walked toward the crowd. "Oh, he is popular… I wonder if he looks cool…"

* * *

Few more minutes later...

"Damn, I knew that accepting this request was a bad idea… How the hell am I supposed to catch some criminal if no one can even say what he looks like?!" Natsu grumbled in annoyance.

"Oh my Lord, Natsu, maybe it's time to stop complaining and just shut your mouth?!" Sin growled angrily. "It's a 700,000 jewels reward, if you complete this mission your monthly income will surpass hers, you win your bet and maybe then I will be able to rest for some time...while you two will be engaged in family planning," Sin smirked.

Natsu's eyes blazed with fury. "Never say such a thing ever again! I hate her! Insolent little…"

"Aha…" Sin yawned. "You two should stop arguing and making stupid bets. Rent a motel suite with a durable bed instead, there you can decide which of you two is stronger!"

"Sin, I'm warning you…" Natsu hissed but something suddenly distracted him.

"Yaaah! Heeey! Salamander-sama!" Natsu heard someone screaming.

"Maybe it is our criminal?" Sin murmured.

"Yeah, criminals always wants to be the center of attention…" Natsu answered sarcastically.

"Shut up and let's take a look, even if it is not our criminal. I want to know what is going on!" Sin exclaimed.

The little dragon grabbed Natsu and lifted him to the roof of the nearest house.

"See!? What did I tell you?!" Sin exclaimed victoriously after they took a good look at this guy, "He is a criminal!"

"All right, I agree – he is a criminal. But I doubt he is our guy. Using forbidden **Miriō no Mahō** [Charm Magic] to attract girls' attention – it's barely worth 70,000 jewels but the price for our guy is ten times higher. We are looking for a terrorist or murderer, not for a womanizer," Natsu stated confidently as they continued to watch.

* * *

The blonde female wizard stared at the man in the center of all the fangirls, her heart beating like crazy and her face was almost completely red. The man she was staring at was tall and had dark blue hair; he was wearing a short sleeved shirt, red striped pants, and large bracelets on his right arm. The man was wearing a dark, high collared cape that reach to the back of his knees, and he had two small, barely noticeable rings on his right hand. The man quickly struck a pose, making the other girls go crazy while the blonde continued to stare.

_'Wait! What is happening to me!? Why is my heart beating so fast?!' _Blonde girl thought as she stared at the man talking to a few girls before turning his head to look at her. That playful grin on his face… Lucy quickly grabbed at her chest as her heart started beating even harder. _'Is it because he is a famous mage? Is that why my heart is beating so fast!? I am… Maybe…'_ Hearts popped into her eyes as she got closer to the man, not paying attention to some strange beings on the roof. _'Maybe… This is…?'_

* * *

"Hmm… Salamander… Why does that sound familiar to me?" Natsu asked distractedly.

"Maybe you were some Salamander in a previous life?" Sin speculated.

"You sure you were not a clown in previous life?" the salmon-haired boy snapped.

"I don't know, however, if you think he is familiar you should take a closer look!" the little dragon exclaimed and pushed Natsu from the roof, right into the middle of the crowd around Salamander.

* * *

"SIIIIIN!" A loud, angry scream snatched Lucy's attention. She raised her head to see it's source, just in time to take a step aside. In the next moment Natsu fell right in the spot where Lucy was just a moment ago.

"Eh?" Lucy yelped. Her eyes widened for a moment and the "hearts" suddenly fell out from her eyes.

Most girls ignored Natsu, Salamander, however, turned his attention toward him as Natsu jumped on his feet and started to look around angrily.

"Did you… Did you just fell from the roof?" Salamander asked.

"Yeah, is it a crime?" Natsu answered quite rudely as he was steaming from his growing rage, "And anyway, who the heck are you?!"

The man jerked back in surprise before he smirked and struck pose, "Maybe you know me as… Salamander." The guy in the cloak said, expecting the salmon-haired boy to at least be amazed but instead Natsu had returned to his search for Sin before the man had even introduced himself. "Gone already?!" Salamander exclaimed in shock.

Natsu was walking alongside the road when he was suddenly attacked by several of the fan-girls surrounding Salamander. They tackled him and started to bite, scratch and perform wrestling moves on him while yelling at him.

"Hey, you're so rude!"

"She is right – Salamander-sama is a great mage!"

"Apologize to him! You can't treat him like this!"

Natsu, caught off-guard by the girls' sudden anger, was not sure how to handle them at first. However, they were seriously annoying, and Natsu had no problem hurting anyone who attacked him.

"Begone, bitches!" Natsu growled and threw the girls from himself, sending them crashing unto trash dumpster. "Don't even think about touching me again or I'll turn you into dust!" He growled. The girls looked at him in fear but Natsu ignored them and Salamander. "Sin! Where are you!? Show yourself, you flying pile of bones!" Natsu moved alongside the town road, trying to find his companion that had pushed him from the roof. He had already forgotten about Salamander, and vice versa.

"I am here, no need to scream so loudly!" The little dragon descended to the ground near Natsu.

"Let's see how loud _you_ will scream, little..." Natsu growled.

"Um, sorry, but, may I interrupt you?" A female voice asked from behind Natsu.

"You already did…" the salmon-haired boy hissed and turned around.

He saw the blonde haired girl staring down at them. She was wearing a white and blue sleeveless, collared shirt, a blue mini skirt, and high black female boots. She also had a whip sitting on one hip with a heart shaped end and on the other was a bundle of keys. Natsu noticed that she was young and quite cute. He also noticed the size of her breasts…

"Uh… I mean, yes, of course!" Natsu's tone changed drastically, now he sounded more amiable.

"Sorry if I'm interrupted something, I just wanted to say thanks for your help!" she said with a smile.

"Huh? My help?" Natsu wondered aloud.

"Yeah, I'll explain if you're willing to join me for lunch, I'm buying," Lucy offered cheerfully.

Sin made a "facepalm" gesture, while Natsu's eyes widened in rapture. Freebie!

* * *

Year 784, July 2nd, 1:15 PM, Town of Harujeon, downtown.

"My name is Lucy, it's nice to meet you," Lucy said with a smile as they entered the restaurant. Natsu was extremely gentle. He opened the door before Lucy, helped her take a seat, and started to eat only after she started eating. However, he did order a large amount of pricy dishes for himself.

"It's very nice to meet you young lady," Sin greeted Lucy.

Lucy just nodded, she was too mannered to ask '_what the hell is this creature?!_'

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," Natsu nodded. "My name is Natsu, this is my companion, Sin." Lucy gulped a little when she heard the name of the skeletal dragon but Natsu ignored it. "So, what did you want to thank me for?"

"Ah, yes, you see, I wanted to thank you for helping me with this **Miriō Shūmon**, [Charm Spell]" Lucy stated.

"Ah, this," Natsu smiled. "Don't mention it. **Miriō no Mahō** were banned several years ago but they are still widespread, mostly because for some people it is the only way to get what they want; a beautiful girl in our case."

Lucy blushed a little from Natsu's compliment. "You are quite aware of magic. Are you two mages?" she asked.

"Yeah, we are here for a request. We have to find and neutralize a dangerous criminal named Bora. Unfortunately, we have very little information about him, so we are forced to check any suspicious activity," Natsu answered.

"Then… Then why did you not take that guy?" Lucy wondered. Salamander was a criminal as far as she could see.

"Nah, I know that guy, he is just a stupid poser. We are looking for a terrorist!" Natsu stated proudly, however, he used one incorrect phrase – he had meant to say, 'I know that _kind of_ guy.'

"Wow, you must be very skilled and brave to go against famous terrorists all by yourself!" Lucy said with slight envy in her voice. '_It must be so cool to have such skills and confidence to go alone against dangerous suspects…_'

"I'm not alone – Sin is my partner!" Natsu stated and Sin nodded. Lucy was not sure how exactly this strange little guy could help in combat, but she decided to cease development of this theme.

"You wouldn't guess from my appearance, but I'm a wizard as well," Lucy commented with a smile.

"Really?" Natsu asked, mostly to keep the ball rolling.

"Yeah, but I'm not a member of a guild yet," she explained.

"So, you are a wandering mage now? You want to see the world before joining some guild? Not a bad idea," Natsu smiled in approval.

"Yeah, kind of…" Lucy mumbled. She felt a bit uncomfortable in the company of full-fledged mages. "Anyway... I should get going, enjoy your meal and maybe we'll see each other around. Thank you, again." She rose to her feet and moved toward the exit.

"Are you really okay with paying for us?" Natsu asked, barely hiding his hope that she was okay.

"Yeah, of course! Don't mention it," she replied with a smile before thinking to herself, _'Even though all that discount money I got thanks to my sex appeal is all gone…'_ She shook her head a little before continuing to speak, "This is my way of saying thank you for helping me with that** Miriō Shūmon**."

"Okay, see you Lucy!" Natsu shouted as Lucy gave the money to the waiter and left the restaurant.

"So cute and she's such a nice girl…" Natsu thought aloud when Lucy left.

"Yes, unlike you, freebie lover…" Sin mumbled.

"Oh please, don't start that again. It was her idea to pay for our meal, she is thankful!" Natsu stated.

"Then why did you not tell her that you actually had no intentions of helping anyone?" Sin asked sarcastically.

"Just shut up and let me finish my meal," Natsu growled as he continued to eat.

* * *

Year 784, July 2nd, 1:55 PM, Town of Harujeon, central park.

After Lucy left the restaurant, she went to a newsstand and purchased the newest Sorcerer Weekly; as she walked through the park she decided to relax on a bench and read.

"Looks like Fairy Tail are causing trouble again! Let's see… 'The Auria castle has been liberated from mage terrorists, however, the castle itself was erased from existence in the process…' HA HA HA! Talk about going overboard!" Lucy giggled as she flipped through the pages before coming to the center where more pictures of famous mages were located.

"So it looks like the centerfold is going to be dedicated to Fairy Tail's mages again," Lucy murmured to herself, "Probably it's their drawing card, Mirajane. She's so pretty… HUH?!"

Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she looked at a comment attached to the centerfold's photo: "And now our gift for the female part of our audience! The most reckless and relentless mage of the year, according to our readers – Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail!"

Lucy could not believe her eyes. The guy in the centerfold was exactly the same guy that was seated before her in the flesh just forty minutes ago. Lucy examined the photo. Natsu was in his common clothes – black and gold coat, snow-camo army pants and black military-style boots, however, his coat was unbuttoned, revealing his muscular chest. A large scar alongside his sternum made him even manlier. His hands were covered by a crimson magical glow and his bold sight and smile made him irresistible for most women.

'_How the hell did I manage to not notice how cool this guy is?!_' Lucy thought angrily. There was something else drew her attention. "Natsu Dragneel… from _Fairy Tail_!"

"Oh my god!" Lucy exclaimed, "He is from Fairy Tail! A mage of Fairy Tail was right before me and I did not even asked him about requirements for joining the guild! And this guy is a readers' choice! He is famous and I did not recognized him?! Damn, I have to start actually reading the magazine instead of just browsing it!" Lucy was angry with herself.

"Maybe it is not too late? Maybe I can still find him? I have to ask him about Fairy Tail!" Lucy jumped up from the bench. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her.

"So you want to join Fairy Tail, huh?" Lucy jumped in surprise as Salamander emerged from the bushes with a grin on his face.

"Salamander!" Lucy called out as she scooted away.

"I've been looking for you." He said as he walked out of the bushes and made another pose. "I wanted to personally invite you to the party on my ship."

"Sorry but your **Miriō Shūmon** won't work on me anymore. The weakness to that spell is 'awareness,' when a target is aware of it, the magic becomes useless," Lucy stated as she created more distance between the two.

"Ah! I knew you are a mage when our eyes met. It doesn't matter though, the invitation still stands," he said.

"No way am I going to be caught at a party with a nasty creep like you." Lucy crossed her arms as she looked away.

That seemed to make him flinch, "What?! Nasty creep, me?!"

She continued, "Using your spell to make yourself popular, that's proof enough of what kind of person you are."

"Oh come now, that's all in good fun, I just wanted to feel like a celebrity at my own party." Salamander lied. Lucy started walking away as he finished talking.

"I am actually wondering if you really are a popular wizard; you are just too pathetic." She said as she walked away, not looking back.

"Hold on a moment. You wanted to join Fairy Tail, right?" he asked, causing her to freeze mid-step. When she turned her head to look at him, he continued. "Have you ever heard of Salamander from Fairy Tail?"

"I did not… Wait, what?! You are one of the wizards of Fairy Tail?!" She practically yelled, to which he answered with a slight smile.

"Yes, I am. I can talk to the master if you're interested in joining." He slowly nodded.

The girl simply stared at him in open-mouthed shock for several seconds, Natsu's words, _'yeah, I know this guy…' _appeared in her mind. _'So, this is what he meant?! And he called him a stupid poser… Looks like even his own guild do not respect him… But who cares if he can help me?!_'Lucy thought before promptly running up and pressing herself against his side, with a big smile on her face. "I can't wait to go to your party tonight!"

Salamander gave an airy laugh, gently trying to push her away from him. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

Completely oblivious to anything he was saying, she moved to stand right in front of him, with stars in her eyes as she clasped her hands together, "Can I really join Fairy Tail?"

"Of course. Just don't tell anyone about the **Miriō no Mahō**," Salamander said.

"No problem, I won't!" Lucy saluted to him.

He nodded, and looked off into the distance for a moment. "Well my dear, it has been a pleasure. I shall see you at the party tonight. It shouldn't be hard to spot you when you get to the docks."

"You got it Mr. Salamander!" Lucy watched until she could no longer see Salamander's back, then something in her brain seemed to click back into awareness.

"Oh, crap! I must have fallen for some kind of pseudo-charm!" Thinking about it, a smile slowly began to creep across her face. "But who cares! I'll just put up with him for a little while until I join Fairy Tail, then ignore him! Woo-Hoo!"

* * *

5 hours later…

"Damn, it is already dark and we still have no signs of any suspicious activity," Natsu thought aloud. "Looks like it will be even harder than I thought."

"Yeah," Sin agreed. "If this guy really is a famous terrorist he is going to do something big. However, Natsu, what if we are just looking in the wrong direction?" Sin unwrapped the request list and examined it again. "Look, we have to track down Bora's activity and neutralize him if we find something. He is a suspect, not a big time criminal yet…"

"But someone put out a big reward for him, why did they do this if he was not a big time criminal?" Natsu asked.

"Because they think that he is up to something but it was you who decided he was a terrorist. Maybe he actually is a spy, super-thief or something… We have to find some proof first…" Sin sighed.

"Okay, let's do this tha…" female voice interrupted his phrase.

"Hey look, that's Salamander's ship!" Natsu and Sin turned to the two women talking. "It's too bad, I wanted to go to the party too."

"Who's Salamander?" the second girl questioned.

"He's a really famous wizard that's in town right now." The first girl said. "He's also a member of that great guild – Fairy Tail!"

Natsu clinched his fists and his eyes blazed with crimson light.

"Fairy… Tail…" He turned towards the ship; Natsu might withstand some idiot who used forbidden magic to get girls' attention, but this… Crimson mist started to swirl around Natsu's body. "So he's a member of Fairy Tail, is he?" Natsu hissed darkly. "Sin, I think I need a ride…"

* * *

Year 784, July 2nd, 7:05 PM, Harujeon's water area, Salamander's ship.

"So your name is Lucy?" he said looking at her. "That's a very pretty name."

"Yeah, thanks," she responded as she looked around the room. They were the only two there seeing as all the other girls were outside.

"Let's toast your beauty with a glass of wine first," he said as he poured a bottle of wine into two glasses.

"Don't you have other girls to attend to?" she asked, wanting to get as far away from this man as possible until they reached Fairy Tail.

"That's okay." He brushed her comment off. "I just think I like drinking with you."

With a snap of his fingers pearl-shaped droplet rose out of the glass and headed towards Lucy very slowly.

"Try opening your mouth. Pearls of wine will slowly come in, savor every one of them," Salamander said.

_'HOW ANNOYING! I just have to be patient!'_ Lucy thought as she closed her eyes and opened her mouth. _'Patience Lucy! You can do this! Just be patient… Just…'_ She quickly opened her eyes and smacked the wine drops away.

"What are you planning!? You nasty creep!" She questioned as Salamander's eyes widened in surprise. "This is a sleeping drug, is it not? What do you think you're doing?"

He smirked as he brought a hand to his chin, "Ooh, how did you know?"

"Don't misunderstand me. I really want to join the Fairy Tail guild, but I have no intentions at all to become your girlfriend."

"You're a bad girl," he said before he snapped his fingers again. "If you were to just sleep peacefully, you would not have to get hurt…" A large number of men appeared, each holding one of the party guests.

"Eh?" Lucy gulped.

Two of Salamander's men grabbed Lucy's hands

"Oh, good job Salamander-san," One of them said.

"We haven't had such a pretty one for a while," another one agreed.

"What is going on?!" Lucy yelled. "Who are you?"

Salamander grabbed her chin. "Welcome to our slave ship," Salamander said with evil smirk. "I must ask you to remain silent until we get to Bosco, Lady."

"What!?" Lucy exclaimed in shock as two men held her arms. "Bosco?! Hey, what happened to Fairy Tail?!"

"I told you it's a slave ship," he said before giving a dark chuckle. "I brought you in as merchandise from the beginning. Just give up."

"You thought this out well, Salamander-san. When girls are influenced by charm, they will fawn to become our merchandise," one of Salamander's men said.

"It seems that charm won't work on this Lady… So we'll just have to train her a little," another one smirked.

_'No, this can't be…'_ She could not believe it as Salamander reached toward her leg and grabbed her Gate Keys. As he backed away she thought _'What is he?.. How could someone do something like this?... '_

"The Keys of the Gates, huh? I see you are the **Seirei Mahō** user…" He smiled.

"**Seirei Mahō**? What is that?"

"We have absolutely no clue about magic…"

"Well, don't worry about it," Salamander answered. "Only the contracted mages can use this magic, meaning it's useless to me." He tossed the keys out the window.

_'So this…' _Lucy thought; tears formed in her eyes as she glared at the man._ "…this is a mage of Fairy Tail!?"_

Salamander reached behind a divider and pulled out a hot branding iron. "Let me brand you as a slave first," he said as he came closer to Lucy. "It'll be a little hot but please bear with it."

_'Abusing magic… Cheating on people… And performing slavery…' _Lucy said as tears fell down her face, "You're the worst mage ever!"

Suddenly, a bright flash, accompanied by loud slicing sound, illuminated the stateroom. The next moment roof and upper parts of stateroom's walls were torn from ship and flew into the sea as a figure dressed in long a one-sleeved coat landed in front of Lucy.

"Natsu!" Lucy happily exclaimed, wiping her tears as the guys who held her arms moved back.

"Stay calm Lucy, I need your help," Natsu said with a very serious expression. Lucy noticed that he held a sword in his gloved left hand – a perfect katana.

"The brat from earlier!?" Salamander shouted in surprise.

Natsu ignored him. "No time to explain, I think this is yours," he said and held out a bunch of keys to Lucy. Lucy grabbed the keys, but she had no time to say thanks as someone grabbed her by her shoulders and lifted her into the air. "Sin, move her away from the ship. Lucy, I noticed you have the key of the water bearer. Summon it and make it throw this ship to the dry land!"

"But Natsu, how do you…" Lucy tried to argue.

"That's an order, go!" Natsu shouted and Sin carried Lucy away.

"Don't let them get away!" yelled Salamander. **"Purominensu Hoippu!"** A magical seal appeared in front of him, but before it was able to produce any magical effect Natsu sliced the seal with his sword. "Don't you worry, darling, no one will get away," salmon-haired boy hissed.

* * *

"What is he going to do?!" Lucy asked as the little boney dragon landed on the sea surface. Surprisingly, they did not submerged into water, Lucy was able to stand on it's surface.

"What?.. How?.." She tried to ask.

"Later, blonde! There will be a fight on board this ship, and it could suffer some severe damage. This ship may sink and all the sleeping girls on board will drown," Sin explained. "Natsu knows what he is doing – just do as he asked!"

Okay, he actually did not asked, he ordered, but Lucy got the idea. "Okay, I'll do it!" She said determinedly. Lucy grabbed the golden key with a water-like ornament on it.

"Here we go! **Open, Gate of the Water Bearer – Akueriasu!"** A mermaid-like spirit emerged from the blue magic seal Lucy's key created. She had a long blue tail, large breasts, long light-blue hair and she wore a revealing bikini top. She had two gold armlets, a circlet with a jewel around her forehead and wielding a large jug.

"Now you're talking our language," Sin said with approval as he looked at the mermaid.

Lucy pointed at Salamander's ship. "Now, Aquarius, use your power to send that ship back to the coast." However, despite Lucy gave her a direct order, all she got from Aquarius was a small "Tch".

"Did you just said 'Tch'?!" Lucy said angrily. "You're not supposed to come from the** Seireikai** to show me your attitude! You are here to help me!"

"You are such a noisy kid…" Aquarius spoke out, catching the girl's attention. "Let me tell you one thing: if you drop the keys again, I'll kill you!" She warned with a very dark glare.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again, promise..." Lucy replied nervously.

Aquarius gathered a large amount of water magic into her large jug and, with a war cry, released it in a giant wave that spiraled towards the ship. It got the ship… but it also caught Lucy. Sin did not expect it so he had no time to lift Lucy in the air.

"Don't flush me along with it!" Lucy cried out as she was sucked into the giant wave.

"Looks like blonde is reliable…" Natsu said with pleased smirk as the ship was flipped and pushed towards land; its passengers (except Natsu) were crashing into everything on board. Natsu plunged his katana into the floor and used it as a handrail. The waves slammed the ship onto the port, also flushing and damaging some of the town's buildings.

"What were you thinking, Aquarius? How could you flush me too!?" Lucy yelled at the water spirit, who shook her head and made a "facepalm" gesture.

"My bad, that was an accident… I flushed the ship as well." Aquarius stated with a calm face.

"Wait, were you aiming at me in the first place!?" The angered girl's question was ignored as Aquarius turned away and began to glow with a blue light.

"Don't call me for a while, I'm going on a trip for a week with my boyfriend." Aquarius smiled as she turned her head and repeated her last phrase before disappearing: "With my boyfriend…"

"No need to repeat!" Lucy called out as Sin landed near the stellar mage. "She can be so selfish!"

"And how often does this happen?" Sin asked in a neutral voice. "I mean – how often your own magic does whatever it wants instead of carrying out your orders?"

"Hey, you can't say that! Don't call my spirits "it" and it they are not just some spells! They are alive!" Lucy protested.

"Whatever you say…" Sin yawned. "They just seem unreliable to me…"

"By the way…" Lucy asked acidly, "what the hell are you anyway?!"

"I'm Natsu's magic familiar," the little dragon stated as if it was quite obvious. "We…" He was interrupted by a large explosion.

A large hole appeared in the ship's starboard side. It seemed that Salamander tried to hit Natsu with some spell but missed. A few moments later several of his men flew out the ship through this hole.

"So, you are the Salamander of Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked with an emotionless face, making Salamander to chuckle a little.

"What's it to you?" He turned to his men and gave the order. "Get rid of him, boys!"

"Man, you are such an idiot… You still do not realized who you dealing with?" Now it was Natsu's turn to smile.

"Natsu, be careful!" Lucy yelled, but Natsu did not pay attention.

"Relax Lucy, just watch the show. Natsu got his nickname 'The Ravager' for a reason…" Sin calmed her down.

"What?! You… you mean _he is_ the Ravager?" Now Lucy remembered. Natsu was mentioned in Sorcerer's weekly several times by his nickname, not by his real name.

"Yep. So stay cool, the best thing you can do is stay out of his way…" Sin nodded.

Several of Salamander's men rushed toward Natsu, but he smashed them to the ground with a mere wave of his right hand. His left, gloved hand still clinched his sword.

"My name is Natsu Dragneel, and I am a senior mage of Fairy Tail." Natsu stated. "And I want to know – why I have never seen you before?"

"Senior mage? What's that mean?" Lucy asked.

"Later, Lucy," Natsu's familiar replied.

"Dragneel… Wait, boss, I remembered something! He is considered as one of the most dangerous bounty hunters in Fiore! This guy's the real deal, Bora-san!"

"Don't call me that you fool!" Bora responded, his voice cracked a little from his surprise at a famous bounty hunter being there.

Natsu's eyes widened from rapture. "So _you are_ Bora! I remember now – you're also known as Bora the Prominent, you are the one who was kicked from Titan Nose Guild because you used magic to commit theft and many other crimes…"

"Poor Natsu," Sin commented. "He has almost perfect memory, yet he keeps forgetting names and titles…"

"Actually I came to this town to catch you. You have a 700,000 bounty on your head. However, thanks to your **Miriō no Mahō**, no one was able to describe you properly. But this is no longer the matter. You dared to use our guild's name to cover your operation and lure several people to turn them into slaves…" Natsu spoke as he walked towards Bora, "You're not going to get away with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still planning to hand you to the authorities and collect a bounty for you, but only after I'll broke all your bones!"

"You definitely talk a lot, brat. Let's see how you can handle me!" Bora sneered as he extended his arms and a magic seal appeared in front of him, releasing a spiral of flames at the unmoving Natsu. **"Purominensu Taifūn!"**

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted as she tried to head into the battle, but Sin grabbed her by her skirt and pulled her back, preventing her from getting close to Natsu.

"Just watch, Lucy," he said.

Natsu made a swinging motion with his sword and a spiral of magic flames instantly turned into thousands of very small pieces of flame. "Pathetic…" Natsu mumbled as every little flame collided with the surface and produced a little explosion, which did not hurt anyone.

"What?! Did he… just sliced my magic with his sword?" Bora asked in shock.

Suddenly, Natsu took a very deep breath, as if he was trying to suck something from the air. At the same time, several red glowing clouds detached from Bora's men, which still laid nearby. Bora's thugs fell unconscious, and Natsu consumed every cloud.

"Disgusting," Natsu said as he finished devouring the red substance. "How did you managed to acquire so big a reward for your head with such pathetic people around you?"

Bora, Lucy and everyone else who were not unconscious all stared in shock as Natsu wiped his mouth.

"W-w-what the h-hell is this kid!?" Bora cried out as his remaining men panicked.

"Aggression towards Natsu only makes him stronger," Sin said with a grin.

"What was that? What he've done?" Lucy muttered.

"Natsu can consume unreleased aggression from enemies he crushed…" Little dragon explained as if it was nothing special.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST - Sannin no Dragon Slayer)

"Anyway, thanks for the meal guys," Natsu smiled. "Now that I've eaten, let battle rejoice!" Natsu exclaimed as his sword had been literally sucked into his gloved left arm. "I don't need it, it will be a shame to use my mother's gift against such weaklings," he said with a smirk. "Look carefully Bora, I'll show you the true meaning of magic," Natsu slammed his fists together, creating his magic seal and began to take a deep breath, aiming at Bora and his remaining men. "**Senjin no Dogō!" **Natsu unleashed a huge, powerful stream of crimson energy at the group, causing a massive explosion wrecking the ship and knocking out all of its passengers.

Bora used his **Reddo Kāpetto** to escape the attack at the last moment.

"Unbelievable…" Lucy whispered.

"Remember well this lesson," Natsu hissed as his body was covered in crimson glowing mist. "This is the kind of wizards that we have in Fairy Tail." Natsu shot forward at incredible speed as Bora quickly cast his next spell to try and hit Natsu.

**"Reddo Shtheawā!"** Bora sent multiple flaming orbs at Natsu, who easily avoided them. The salmon-haired mage shrouded his legs in crimson energy and jumped up to Bora and flipped over him, bringing his leg down to kick him in the head: **"Senjin no Saiken!"**

The blow was powerful enough to smash the slaver-mage into a port building on the other side of town. Natsu dashed after Bora with incredible speed.

"He eats this… red thing and then attacks with it… What kind of magic is this?" Lucy questioned as she watched the battle. Natsu easily overwhelmed Bora and beat him without even trying.

"Well, this crimson energy that Natsu uses for combat – it is the power of the 'God of War.' The God of War is able to breathe passion by his lungs, consume the fury by his mouth and bring destruction by his fists and weapons," Sin explained as he stood at Lucy's side. "His brand of**Shitsutta Mahō** [Lost Magic] lets him obtain all the qualities of a God. He learned it from his foster mother, supreme goddess of war – Morrigan."

"You got to be kidding me… He learned this from the _real goddess_?" Lucy whispered as Bora flew into the sky and concentrated a lot of magic before releasing it at the town in the shape of a large purple beam.

**"Heru Purominens!"** As the beam came closer to the buildings, Natsu appeared and blocked it with the crimson shield, preventing it from wrecking the town's buildings. "Hey you! Watch it, I have no intentions of pay for your idiocy!" Natsu shouted as he landed on the roof of one of the buildings, staring up at Bora. He was building his magic up again and conjuring a giant ball of fire.

"It's called **Sen no Metsujin Mahō** [War God Slayer Magic]. It is originally a god's interception magic, however, Natsu possess some other useful magical powers," Sin finished, making Lucy look at him in confusion.

"But why would a goddess teach someone magic to fight with gods?!" she asked.

"Who knows? I'm sure she had a reason…" He shrugged as the battle was nearing its conclusion.

"Screw you! **Reddo Sukaru!**" Bora bellowed as he threw the ball at Natsu, who covered his fist with crimson energy and smashed the fireball into a thousand pieces.

"Useless to resist!" the god slayer smirked. "You're actually doing better than I anticipated; I did not expect you to last this long," Natsu taunted before continuing to speak. "But I'm running out of time, I have to collect my bounty for you and win a bet!"

"So, I'm just a source of money for you?!" Bora said, freaked out at what Natsu said.

Natsu didn't answer as he instantly appeared in front of Bora with a right foot, glowing with crimson energy. "Take this,**Senjin no Shōkya!**" The god slayer slammed his foot into Bora's face and sent Bora flying across town, right into the church's bell. A loud _DONG_ was heard throughout the city as Bora collided with it.

"This is what happens to those who dare to use our guild's name!" Natsu said, approaching the unconscious and beaten Bora. "Don't you worry, I'll send a message to the authorities. I'll tell them that you decided to think about your life and they shall seek you in the church," Natsu smirked evilly.

(End of Song)

"Natsu!" Lucy called for him as she approached with Sin.

"Sorry, but the show is over!" Natsu said cheerfully. "Sorry Lucy, but I can't repeat it – he was the only one among those guys who was able to withstand at least some beating."

"Nice job, Natsu," Sin approved "Now he will think twice before disgracing our guild!"

"You really were amazing out there, I've never seen such magic before." She pointed a spot behind him, "but you overdid it…"

"Oh mother… Not again! How the hell this could happen?!" Natsu turned around and froze. The port was in ruins, rubble was scattered all over the place, several of the townhouses were in flames. "You've got to be kidding me… and after all that effort to protect the town… I even used my magic to block offensive spells…"

"I think it's your '**Senjin no Dogō**' that caused most of the damage, moreover you ordered Lucy to flush the ship back to port with a tsunami…" Sin speculated.

"Master will be pissed off… And at least half of my reward will be spent on reparations… Crap!" Natsu growled.

"Well, this is why you deserve your nickname, The Ravager," Sin smirked.

"Not funny!" Natsu hissed. "It means that I have to do one more mission before she returns, or I'll lose the bet!"

Their talk was interrupted by the sound of multiple footsteps approaching. The group turned towards the sound and saw a large group of soldiers heading in their direction.

"The military!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise before finding herself being pulled away by a running Natsu and Sin as he flew overhead.

"Crap, we have to make a run for it!" Natsu called. "We can't have a conflict with military personnel!"

"Why are you taking me along!?" Lucy exclaimed as her body was floating in the air.

"You said before that you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right?" The blonde wizard's eyes widened when she heard the question, Natsu looked back at her with a pleased smile. "You helped me to catch this guy, so I think you will fit to our guild just fine!"

Lucy was quiet for a moment before a smile beamed over her face, "ALL RIGHT!" As soon as her feet touched the ground she joined Natsu in running from the soldiers. She was not yet able to understand why it was so funny to run from the authorities.

* * *

Few things about spells: okay, as I remember in my other stories I decided to use Kanji to Romaji conversion for all spells. But I gave up – too much of unnecessary work that only confused people more. For this story I'll use Kanji only for lost magic spells. All "modern" spell names will be converted to Romaji from Katakana.

_Spell List:_

**Hi no Mahō** – Fire Magic

**Seirei Mahō** – Celestial Spirit Magic

**Seireikai** – Celestial Spirit World

**Akueriasu** – Aquarius

**Miriō no Mahō** – Charm Magic

**Miriō Shūmon** – Charm Spell

**Purominensu Hoippu** – Prominence Whip

**Purominensu Taifūn** – Prominence Typhoon

**Reddo Kāpetto** – Red Carpet

**Heru Purominens** – Hell Prominence

**Reddo Shawā** – Red Shower

**Reddo Sukaru** – Red Skull

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

**Senjin no Saiken **– War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin no Shōkya** – War God's Shock Leg

**Shitsutta Mahō** – Lost Magic

**Sen no Metsujin Mahō** – God of War Slayer magic

* * *

Okay, this is it. I know – idea of alternate canon is as old as Fairy Tail itself, but I need some time to gather my thoughts.

So, read and **REVIEW** people. Cya people!


	2. Welcome to the Fairy Tail!

Hay again! Let's go for another chapter.

Thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really appreciating it.

* * *

**Chapter II – Welcome to Fairy Tail!**

…

Year 784, July 3th, 13:00 AM, Magic council Era

"Can you believe it?! Those idiots of Fairy Tail have done it again! This time they managed to turn entire port into burning ruins!" exclaimed one of the council members, banging his fists on the table.

"I think you better should say '…managed to _ravage_ the entire port…' he will like it more," Ultear said with a smile.

News of Natsu's battle against Bora had reached Era the very next day and the Magic Council gathered for an unscheduled meeting to discuss the recent incident that once again had Fairy Tail's members involved.

"You think this is funny, Ultear?" growled a tall old man with a little bat on his head.

"That's enough. We are gathered here to discuss Fairy Tail's recent activity, not to fight each other," an old woman interjected.

" We should not take it lightly, I wouldn't be surprised if an entire town will disappear one day…" The old man with the bat said.

"Anyway, I reported to the government that they did it to arrest the slaver Bora. It was an official request from the town's municipal council," Siegrain said casually. "Moreover, I like that bunch of idiots…"

"It's true that they're a bunch of fools, but it's also true that they have a lot of skillful and reliable mages," Councilor Yajima nodded.

"That's why we are quite at loss," the old woman said.

"Indeed, it is a tricky subject," agreed the old man with the bat.

"Just let them be, after all if it was not for dimwits like them, think how boring this world would be," Siegrain said, causing most of council members to growl powerlessly, while Yajima smiled and Ultear chuckled a little.

'_You definitely have a style, my dear Ravager. I hope I'll be able to meet you one day so we could have some fun, Natsu-kun…" _Ultear thought to herself, licking her lips at the thought of the young warlock in the black and gold one sleeved coat.

…

Year 784, July 4th, 11:20 AM, Town of Magnolia, Fairy Tail guildhall.

"So, what do you think Lucy?" Natsu asked cheerfully as he, Lucy and Sin approached Fairy Tail's main building.

"It's huge!" Lucy answered with an excited smile on her face.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail." The little bone dragon made a welcoming gesture.

"Are you ready to become a full-fledged mage, Lucy?" Natsu smiled and Lucy nodded her head excitedly.

Natsu went to the door and pushed it open with a wave of his right hand. The doors opened wide and Natsu moved inside, inviting Lucy to follow.

"We're back, people!" Natsu announced.

"Welcome back, Natsu!" Several people greeted them. Others nodded to him or waved.

A man with buckteeth looked at Natsu with quite a stupid smile on his face. "Natsu, I heard you managed to ravage half of Harujeon during your last mission. You really know how to make a good impre…"

That was all he was able to say before he got smashed in the back of his head by flying chair. He crashed into another table and wrecked a few chairs as well.

"Silence! Don't you dare remind me that I've once again lost almost a half of the mission reward due to the inability of some weakling to surrender willingly!" Natsu growled angrily.

However, it seemed no one heard Natsu because the man with buckteeth has drawn most of attention to himself.

"You bastard! How dare you to interfere with my lunch?!" Another mage shouted. His table has been smashed and his food was now all over the floor.

"It was not my fault, it's Natsu's!" the bucktoothed man protested.

His words were ignored. "You want to fight? Let's go!"

"Bring it on!" the bucktoothed man shouted before the two began to fight. Their malice spread to the rest of the guild, turning it into an everyone-for-himself battle royal.

Lucy stood staring in amazement as she watched everyone and everything inside the guild.

"Whoa… I really am in Fairy Tail!" she practically squealed before continuing to watch the fight. The brawl turned into a huge mix of humans, dust and wooden furniture as more and more mages joined in. However, from the corner of her eye she noticed what Natsu did not join the fight. Instead he headed to the counter and joined some black-haired woman, who wore brown pants and a sea-blue colored bikini top. Lucy noticed a strange, almost happy, smile on Natsu's face as he watched the brawl from the sidelines.

"Cana, I assume everything's going well in here?" he asked the woman in the bikini top.

"Well, it was… until you started this," she smirked and pointed to the brawl.

"It's for everyone's good, trust me. People have to blow off steam from time to time," Natsu stated casually.

"Has Gray returned from his mission?" the God slayer wondered.

"Nope, looks like his mission appeared to be a bit tougher than he initially assumed… Or he lost his pants somewhere again and is looking for them," Cana giggled, causing Natsu to smile.

"Mirajane here?" he asked.

"Yep, she's around here somewhere, probably in the basement." Cana looked back at the fight before giving a sigh. "They're so noisy, I need a drink." She reached for the barrel next to her and threw it back, taking big gulps. Natsu smirked as Lucy stared at her, eyes wide in shock.

Lucy approached Sin, careful to avoid the brawl. "So, Natsu can also use **Terekineshisu**?" The blonde asked as she remembered how Natsu tossed the chair into another person without touching it.

"Yep, but only at a level that is quite basic, he has no natural propensity to this type of magic," Sin explained, "so it is useless in combat, but still useful in daily life."

"Yapping in the middle of the day… You're not little kids, you know," Elfman said as he walked up to the brawl. Lucy couldn't help but become a little nervous around him due to his tall and muscular appearance. "So fight with fists to show your manhood!"

'_So it all comes down to fighting after all…_' Lucy thought.

"Less words, more action Elfman! Go and try it yourself," Natsu smirked as he grabbed a barrel that Cana had just emptied and tossed it to the white-haired giant without any **Terekineshisu** magic. Caught off-guard by Natsu's sudden move, Elfman was sent crashing into the wall on the other side of the guildhall.

Cana raised her eyebrow and looked at Natsu.

"No Cana, it has nothing to do with that – I forgave him for that long ago, I swear. I just can't take it when someone starts acting smart in front of me until noon," Natsu said with a smile.

Lucy was about to ask what he was talking about when she heard someone's voice behind her.

"It's so noisy around here" they said, causing Lucy to turn around and see Loki sitting there with two girls on his lap.

'_Ahh! Loki, the top ranked 'Mage you want to have as your boyfriend'!"_ Lucy stared at him in shock.

"I'm going to join the fight now," he said as he stood up. "Of course only for you two, ladies." He gave a wink, causing hearts to appear in their eyes.

'_And his image is officially corrupted!'_ Lucy took out a marker and crossed out his face in her potential boyfriend list. "What's with this place?" she mumbled. "It seems like none of them are normal…"

"What do we have here, a newcomer?" a voice said from behind her. When she turned around she met eyes with Mirajane, who was standing there with her usual welcoming smile. She was holding a tray full of drinks with one hand and adjusting her hair with the other.

"Mirajane! The real one!" Lucy shouted, winning her a chuckle from Mira. Both women's attention was shifted as they heard Natsu's voice.

"Hi there, Mira." Natsu and Sin waved at her. The little boney creature now sat near the God slayer at the counter.

"Hey guys!" Mira gave them a very warm smile. "I heard about your thundering success on your last mission," she giggled.

"And you, too…" Natsu sighed heavily.

"Relax Natsu, it's just a joke," she tried to reassure him. "I'm sure you still have a chance to win your bet, just take another mission tomorrow."

"I hope you're right… Anyway, we have a newcomer here," he said, motioning towards the blonde mage. "This is Lucy. She provided assistance during my mission to arrest Bora and I think she has good potential. She would be a good addition to our family," Natsu explained.

"Wow, that's a high praise coming from Natsu," Mira said as she looked at Lucy. She then turned back to the God slayer with slightly narrowed eyes. "However, Natsu, I hope her potential has nothing to do with her breast size?"

"Nothing at all," Natsu answered nonchalantly.

"Alright, welcome to Fairy Tail," Mira said cheerfully. "And thank you for helping with Natsu's mission."

"Oh, it was nothing," Lucy waved off the thanks. "Natsu was the one who did most of the fighting, I only provided a little help." She looked back to the fight then back at Mirajane, "Don't you think we should stop them?"

"Not really, it's better to let them continue until they finish. Besides-" Natsu used a bolt of his crimson energy to vaporize a flying bottle that was heading towards Mirajane's head "-it's fun this way, don't you think?" Mirajane smiled at the now freaked out Lucy as if nothing had happened.

Lucy suddenly noticed a table flying towards her and scrambled to dodge it, finding herself picked up by Loki in the nick of time. Natsu had continued to chat with Mirajane like nothing happened.

"Ah geez… People with no elegance are really troublesome, don't you think?" he said to the quite shocked Lucy. "By the way, which modeling agency do you belong t…?" Loki was socked in the face by Elfman who was shouting.

"Real men should fight with their fists!" Elfman was then tackled away by two bodies.

Cana, who was still sitting at the bar turned around in her seat, "Ahh… So noisy… I can't even drink peacefully… It's time to stop it," she mumbled while pulling out one of her cards. She prepared to use her **Majikku Kādo** and a green magic circle appeared. "Okay guys, time to end this."

"NOOOUUUAAAHHH!" Elfman roared as stone debris began to cover his right arm and a purple seal moved along it.

"Oh dear, what a troublesome bunch..." Loki said as his magic ring started to glow.

"Now this is the real language of Fairy Tail!" Natsu shouted as he watched his guild members prepare to use their magic.

"This is getting a little too intense…" Mirajane sighed as she scratched her head.

But before anyone could do a thing a giant foot came down in the middle of the guild, splitting the room in two. "That's enough!" Lucy looked up with wide eyes at the giant creature standing there.

**"CUT IT OUT, YOU FOOLS!"** The giant commanded, making everyone freeze. The only people who remained calm were Mirajane and Natsu.

'_HE IS HUMONGOUS!'_ Lucy thought in a panic.

"Oh master, I didn't know you had already returned," Mirajane said.

'_Master?!'_ Lucy's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Hi, Gramps!" Natsu and Sin said at the same time, waving at him.

"Did you say master!?" She inquired, unable to divert her eyes from the giant, who turned his head to look at them.

"**HELLO THERE YOUNGSTERS!"** Makarov replied before noticing Lucy among them. **"And what do we have here?"** Makarov inquired as he started to transform back to his original form and walked up to Lucy, who just could not believe her eyes. "A newcomer, huh?"

"He is so tiny… He's really the master?" Lucy asked.

"Of course he is Lucy! Gramps is an amazing mage," Natsu exclaimed and Sin nodded.

"I would like you to meet the Guild Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov," Mirajane introduced.

"Nice to meet you," he said giving her a small wave before jumping up, onto the railing, smacking his head to the wall in the process. He quickly recomposed himself before he stood looking at everyone quite sternly.

"You have gone and done it again, you bunch of goofs!" He shouted, waving a thick pile of paper at them. "Look at all this paperwork that the magic council has sent me! This is the biggest pile of complaints we've had yet!"

"First, Gray…" he started as he read from the list. "Good job on sweeping out the smuggling organization, but then you walked around the town naked and stole underwear that was being dried."

"Um… Master, Gray has not come back yet…" Mirajane pointed out.

"Moreover, wouldn't it be worse if he were naked?" Elfman muttered.

"He should not be naked in the first place…" Cana stated.

"Not back yet? Okay, I'll deal with him later. Cana…" Makarov sighed before he turned to her and continued to read the reports, "you need to stop buying alcohol and then charging it to the council's credit! This recent charge was for 15 big barrels!"

"So they found out…" she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Elfman, you had a mission to escort a VIP but assaulted him during the mission…"

"He said men are all about education, so…" he replied while scratching his cheek. Makarov shook his head slightly at those words.

"Loki… You were flirting with a council member's granddaughter, Elder Reiji's specifically, and a certain talent agency charged us for damage compensation too." Loki turned away from the master, looking at the floor, in shame.

Makarov turned to look at Natsu sitting near the counter and hung his head in defeat. "And Natsu, this time you managed to exceed yourself! Good job with liberating the Auria castle but you know there are other ways to deal with terrorists, apart from obliterating the entire castle! There is also a short list of your recent exploits: leveling a historical clock tower in Tully Village, annihilating a church in Freesia, incinerating several parts of Lupinus Castle, Nazuna Ravine observatory has been devastated and turned to dust and just yesterday you ravaged the entire port of Harujeon town!"

"At your service!" Natsu saluted to everyone with a complacent grin on his face as Mirajane giggled at his reaction and Makarov made a "facepalm" gesture.

_'So it was Natsu behind most of the articles in the magazines, huh?'_ Lucy thought as she stared at the smiling God slayer.

"To be honest, on that last one…" Sin called out and pointed at Lucy, "she was responsible for about one third of the damage."

"What did I do?!" Lucy asked as she crossed her arms. "He is the one who caused that blast!"

"Relax you two. Sin, it is true that in order to send the ship back to the port she summoned a huge tsunami, which also caused some damage to the port and flooded several town buildings, but it was I who ordered her to do so." Natsu stated, winning a small smile from Mira. "So I'm taking all responsibility for that incident."

Lucy looked at him with a strange expression and tried to say something, but nothing came to her mind. For some reason she felt a slightly guiltily. _'I'm not even a guild member yet, but I've already started causing trouble…'_

Makarov continued down the list, naming many wizards in the building: Levy, Jet, Droy, Warren, Bisca, Alzack, Max, Nab and others. The named mages became confused and avoided looking at the Guild Master as soon as he called their names. The old man started to tremble as he finished with the papers, which were being crushed by Makarov's tight grip.

"Guys… thanks to you the council members are angry at me all the time…" Makarov growled, causing everyone to shiver a bit, except Natsu and Mirajane. "But… I say forget about the fools of the council!" he shouted with a pleased smile as the pack of papers turned to ash. Makarov's outburst about the council made Lucy look up at him in surprise.

Everyone was silent as the Guild Master spoke; all of them paying complete attention to his words, even Natsu and Sin.

Master continued his speech "Now listen up. The powers to overcome reasoning are born from reason. Magic is not a miracle, it's a power of our own souls. When the "spirit" that flows within us and the "spirit" that flows in nature connects in perfect union they will form an embodiment for the first time. You will need a strong mentality and lot of concentration for that. I mean– pouring all of your soul into whatever you do– this is what we call magic. If you keep worrying about watchful eyes of the higher-ups your magic won't improve. Screw those old farts from the council, don't let them scare you with their rules. Do whatever you think is right! That's the only way for Fairy Tail mages!" He finished his speech with a cheerful yell.

The entire guild followed his example, cheering as Makarov finished his speech. As the guild hall was filled with loud excited shouts and laughing, Lucy noticed that Natsu was not cheering with the others. Instead he still sat near counter, pulling out his sword and rose it toward the sky. Lucy understood just by looking at him – no one there was as proud as Natsu that he is a member of Fairy Tail.

* * *

"You want it here?" Mirajane asked before placing the magic stamp at the back of Lucy's right palm.

"Yes!" Lucy answered without hesitation.

"There you go!" Mirajane said cheerfully as she removed the stamp from Lucy's hand, revealing a pink guild mark. "Now you're officially a part of Fairy Tail!"

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed joyfully as she stared at the mark and turned toward the next table where Natsu and Sin were sitting. Mirajane went to put the magic stamp back in its place before returning to her work.

Natsu was writing something in his black, leather bound notepad. Sin was reading as Natsu wrote.

"Hey Natsu, look! She just gave me the mark of Fairy Tail!" Lucy grinned as she showed her new mark to the god slayer.

"Nice, welcome to the guild… Whatever your name is…" Natsu answered without lifting his eyes from his writing.

"I'm Lucy!" she yelled angrily.

"Relax Lucy," Mirajane called to her from behind the counter. "It is his well-known problem that he keeps forgetting names. Don't worry– three or four days and he will remember you." Mira smiled. "Oh, and he does not like being interrupted when he is writing in his notepad. Just leave him for a while."

"Okay…" Lucy answered hesitantly. She noticed that almost every member of Fairy Tail had their own peculiarity. For example, this muscular white-haired guy that always talks about being a man, manhood, etc… On the other hand, there is Loki who always walks around with at least two girls attached to him. Don't even mention this black-haired woman, Cana, who drinks alcohol right from the barrel…

A few minutes later, Natsu finished his writing and hid his notepad and gold pen in his coat's internal pocket. As soon as he finished, two men approached him.

"So Natsu, where did you find such a cutie?" one of them asked, causing Lucy to shiver a little. "I envy you… I wonder if she'd join my team…" the other one added.

Natsu turned around and scrutinized the two, confusing them slightly. "No, I don't think so," he concluded at last. "Moreover, you are a married man Wakaba, and you… whoever you are – close your shop door," Natsu said with narrowed eyes.

"Ugh!" the wizard who came with Wakaba turned away in embarrassment as Wakaba laughed at him.

"Wakaba, I think Natsu is right…" Mirajane's voice called to him from behind. "You should not flirt with other girls when you have a wife of your own." Wakaba turned around and met face to face with his wife.

"DWAAAHHH! Don't transform into my wife!" Wakaba yelled in fear as he ran away, covered in a cold sweat. The entire guild burst into laughter. Natsu saluted Mirajane as she regained her normal form, and winked at Lucy, meaning "Don't mention it."

"Which reminds me," Natsu said suddenly, "I still have a bet to win, so it's time for a new mission." As soon as he stood up from his chair the god slayer heard a very sad and worried voice.

"Is my dad back yet?" He looked to the side and saw a boy with black hair, a green short-sleeved shirt and brown shorts standing in front of Makarov, who was taking a nap on the counter.

"You are becoming annoying, Romeo. If you are the son of a mage, trust your father, be a good boy and wait for him at home," the master said with his right eye half-open.

"But master!" the boy protested, "he said he'd come back in three days, but it's been a week since then!"

"Macao's job is at the Hakobe Mountain, is not it?" Makarov said as he tried to recall the details of the request that Macao took.

"Yes, and it's not far from here, either." Romeo's eyes rimmed with the threat of tears. "Please look for him, I'm worried about my father!"

"No way! Your dad is a mage of our guild! And we have no mages here who can't take care of himself! I told you to return home, and wait for him! Go and drink some milk or something!" Makarov yelled. Romeo jumped in front of him and smashed his little fist right between the master's eyes before running away from the guildhall with tearful eyes.

"IDIOT! I hate all of you!" The small voice of an extremely upset boy echoed within the walls.

"It is very strict in this guild, isn't it?" Lucy asked as the discussion ended.

"Master is like that, he always tries not to show emotion but he is actually worried about Macao too," Mirajane said as she started cleaning plates.

"He has not returned for a week…" Natsu mumbled as he watched the guild doors open. "No, this will not work this way," he stated as crimson energy started to swirl around him and the entire guildhall began to shake from his power. "No one will go missing during my shift – Sin, come on!" Natsu moved toward the exit. Makarov sighed heavily as he watched the young warlock walk out.

"Are you really intending to let him go to Hakobe Mountain to save Macao, master?" Nab asked as he moved closer to the guild master.

"It doesn't matter how powerful this guy is, he's still a kid," the bucktooth mage commented. "If he does that, it'll only hurt Macao's pride…"

"No one can decide what he should do," Makarov answered with a pleased smile. "Just let him walk his own path, he already has a long one…"

"By the way…" Mirajane gave Nab and the other guy a dark glare, "you two can still catch up with him and discuss his childishness face to face. Or I can transfer your complaints to him when he returns so you can speak. Shall I?"

"No, Mira please don't!" Both Nab and the bucktooth guy trembled in fear. Mirajane turned away from them with a satisfied smile.

"What happened to him all of a sudden?" Lucy asked as she stared at the doors.

"Well, despite Natsu being very young, he already walks a relatively long path. He does not know who his parents are. As far as he remembers he was raised by Morrigan – the goddess of war." Mirajane started her tale wistfully.

Lucy fell off her chair in shock from the older mage's words, but quickly stood up. "What?! Natsu was really raised by a goddess!?" Lucy exclaimed.

Mirajane nodded and continued speaking. "Yep. The warrior goddess Morrigan – also called as 'The Great Queen', 'Supreme War Goddess', and 'Specter Queen' – representing the heavenly powers of battle, magic, fate and death. She taught him many things like language, science, culture and, of course, magic."

"To be honest, this is the first time I've heard about her…" Lucy murmured.

Mira continued. "My bet is that she was a harsh mother, however, Natsu is very thankful to her. But when Natsu hit 13 years old, she stated that she gave to him everything she could and from now on he should continue on his own…"

"And she...left him?" Lucy gulped a little.

"Yes, she left. But before she did so she left one last gift for Natsu – her own sword – Heavenly Blossom," Mira sighed.

"She left him with just a sword?!" Lucy exclaimed.

The white haired girl smirked. "For me or for you Lucy, it's just a sword, but for warriors... _To whom a warrior entrusts his sword – he entrusts ALL._"

"Warrior?" Lucy echoed.

"Don't let this word confuse you Lucy, it has nothing to do with magic or swords – this is the state of soul… but we digress from the topic." Mirajane smiled.

"Natsu joined Fairy Tail about two years after his mother left him. You better ask Natsu himself. I'll only say that he was a complete ass back then. Lazy, cunning, insolent – he even declined an S-class trial, he said it was "too much trouble for only more troubles." He was like this until… some accident about two and half years ago…"

Lucy noticed Mira shivered a little…

"One of our guild members died during a mission, someone quite precious to Natsu. Despite it never being Natsu's fault he still blames himself. After that accident he had changed drastically, he passed an S-class trial at very next opportunity and took some guild duties. But most importantly he swore that he would do everything possible to not let any of his nakamas die."

Mirajane put a glass before Lucy.

"You see, we are… mages of Fairy Tail are… all… carrying something… wounds… pain… suffering… and I as well…" Mira shivered again.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"No… It's nothing," Mirajane waved it off and smiled warmly at her. Lucy thought for a few seconds before getting up and rushing after Natsu.

"Natsu! Wait a second!" Lucy managed to catch up with him a few minutes later.

The god slayer turned around. "What is it Lucy, I'm in a hurry. Macao may be in need of help."

"I know…" she answered, panting a little. "I want to join you, I wanna help!"

Natsu looked at her for a second. "Alright...in a search and rescue mission the more eyes you have, the better. It will be a long ride so I'm going to find a carriage. Use this time to bring winter clothes it will be cold up there…"

* * *

(4 hours later)

"So Natsu, why did you join Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked after almost four hours of silence.

Natsu smirked. "Well, I think there is nothing bad in telling you, it's not a big secret. I suppose Mira already gave you the short version of my life's story… So, after my mother left I could think about only one thing – power. I trained, sought for spells, knowledge, anything. I was also constantly fighting with every random mage I met in order to test myself. After my victories I always took all of their money for myself, as a 'punishment for their weakness.' So, as I'm understanding now, I was just a robber…" Natsu smirked a little.

"It was before I found that guy. He was nothing special in looks, but I was amazed by his powers. He was much older than me, about 45 years old. I followed him for a few days…" the god slayer noticed Lucy's sight. "No, I never fought with him, despite my pride I never was an idiot." He smiled.

"His eyes alone were enough for me to understand that we were in completely different leagues. I only followed him to learn some things about him. In the end I managed to find out that he is a mage of a guild named Fairy Tail. So I thought if mere human can achieve such power, then how high **_I_** can rise? I was so proud back then…" Natsu smiled to himself.

"He was the strongest among the mages I met, so I decided to join his guild. It was not too difficult, to be honest, luckily I had not robbed any of their members. And now I'm here…" Natsu finished his tale with a slight grin. "Don't get me wrong – those two years of free roam was quite useful, only thing I'm sorry about is robbery. I saw almost the entire country and met with Sin, however, that's another story for another day…"

When he felt the carriage stop he stood and stated, "Looks like we have arrived."

"Did we arrive at Hakobe Mountain?" Lucy asked the driver.

"Sorry, but this is as far as I can take you."

Sin opened the carriage door and Lucy immediately felt the harsh cold wind. "Wow, it's really cold in here. Thanks for the warning about winter clothes!" she said, looking at the snowy terrain around them.

"Don't mention it," Natsu waved it off. "C'mon, we have to find Macao as fast as possible. We can't let him die in this frozen wasteland!"

"Okay," Lucy agreed. "What job did Macao-san come here for? Where should we start to look for him?"

"I wish I knew…" Natsu mumbled. "He came here to subdue the brutal monster, Vulcan."

"M-m-m-monster?!" Lucy's voice shook. "No one told me anything about monsters! I thought we just had to find Macao!"

"Too late for that, blondie! You're already here and I'm counting on you and your magic." Natsu sounded a bit irritated. "Now, summon one of your spirits with capability to see and move and make it help us in our search."

"All right, but only if you promise to stop calling my spirits 'it'!" She said a bit angrily. Then she pulled out one of her silver keys and shouted "**Open, Gate of the Clock – Hororogiumu!" **Out of the magic seal came a giant grandfather clock with arms, legs and a dial-like face.

"Weird…" Sin murmured.

"Yeah, never saw anything like this…" the god slayer agreed "Whatever, Lucy, you two head this way-" Natsu pointed to the left "-I'll go there and Sin will search from above."

"MACAO, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" Natsu called out through the powerful snowstorm, standing near the cliff's edge as he tried to look around.

"Damn! Okay, let's spread out and be careful everyone…" But before he could finish his phrase a Vulcan came crashing in between Natsu and the others with a grin on its face, aiming for Natsu.

The God Slayer quickly dodged it and prepared for combat as crimson energy surging with passion started to swirl around him. The Vulcan stared at him for a few moments before sniffing the air.

"A human woman!" A big, perverted grin came to the monkey's mug before it ran off.

"Hey, are you intending to fight or not?!" Natsu shouted to the retreating monster, before realizing he was heading for Lucy. "Damn it – Lucy! Watch out!"

Lucy managed to see the danger at the last minute and in a panic hid inside the clock. "There's something strange about this monkey… Could it be…?" Natsu whispered to himself as he watched the Vulcan lift up Horologium and run away.

"'Cease your discussion! Get over here and save me!'... she cried through tears," Horologium reported with little emotion.

"What did I tell you? You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear," Sin stated as he landed on Natsu's shoulder.

"Too late…" Natsu mumbled with a heavy sigh. "Mother, lend me your aid to handle this girl…"

* * *

"How did I become like THIS!? And that damn monkey is hyper for some reason!" Lucy asked tearfully. "How did I allowed myself to be dragged into this!?" She shivered as the Vulcan ran around Horologium.

"A human female!" the Vulcan said as he pressed his mug against the glass of the grandfather clock, freaking Lucy out even more as she stared at the monkey's drooling maw.

Then, at the most inopportune moment, Horologium disappeared, eliciting a slight cloud of blue smoke.

"Where did you go Horologium?! Don't you dare disappear at such a time!" Lucy wailed as she remained unprotected in front of the perverted monkey.

"Sorry but my time is up. Farewell," the clock's voice replied.

"Extension! I need an extension, please!" the stellar mage yelled as the Vulcan rushed its way over to her with a large perverted grin on its face. Suddenly, ray of crimson energy hit the Vulcan and smashed him into the wall of the ice cave.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you pathetic scarecrow," Natsu growled loudly as he appeared from the shadows. "Damn… Macao, I've always known you were a pervert, but don't you think this is a bit too much?" Natsu addressed to monkey as Lucy dashed towards the god slayer and hid behind his back.

"Huh?" Lucy looked at Natsu quizzically.

"Molest a young lady without even introducing yourself? You are disappointing me...not to mention the fact that you let some monkey use it's **Teiku Ōbā** on you." As Natsu spoke, the monkey managed to recover.

"What are you talking about, Natsu?" Lucy asked, but he remained focused on the enemy. Suddenly she heard Sin's voice. "Natsu, behind you!"

Natsu turned around only to see three more Vulcans. "Damn, so out of time!"

"More monsters?!" Lucy cried in a panic.

"Don't panic Lucy, nothing bad will happen to any of us, promise." Natsu said with steel confidence in his voice. "We will all return home. To Fairy Tail."

'_What's with this guy… Only by looking at him I become confident in our safety…'_ Lucy asked as she stared up at Natsu.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Karyū vs. Enjin)

"Okay, Lucy – you take care of this one," he pointed at the monkey that kidnapped her. "I'll explain it later but we need him alive. Sin – insure her if needed. And I'll take care of those three." For some reason Natsu's eyes blazed with excitement.

"Yes sir!" Lucy and Sin saluted simultaneously. "Natsu, I don't know how it happened, but I already feel like I'm part of the family. And I'll fight for the sake of my friends!" Lucy stated, grabbing one of her keys.

"Familiar feeling…" Natsu smirked. "Let's go!"

Lucy raised up her key and shouted: **"Open, the gate to the Golden Bull's palace – Taurosu!"** Out of the magic seal a large creature, seeming to be a hybrid of a bull and human, carrying a big two-handed axe and wearing blue trunks appeared.

"Moooooo!" the bull bellowed.

"A bull?" Sin stared at the Taurus with a raised eyebrow.

"Taurus, the most powerful **Seirei** in my contract, will be this monkey's opponent. He'll be more than enough to deal with this perverted scarecrow!" Lucy said with a bit of bloodlust in her voice. Vulcan had scared her and now she wanted revenge.

"Mother, lend me your aid! Let battle rejoice! **Senjin no Sōken!**" Crimson energy formed into two long blades on each of his fists as Natsu rushed toward the approaching monsters. Once he was close enough, Natsu swung both arms, hitting the monsters with his crimson energy blades. The blow elicited a cloud of iced dust and sent them flying in different directions…

"Oh, Lucy-san, your boobs are nice as always. Moo-re amazing than ever. How about you let me touch them a little?" the perverted bull asked, making Lucy clinch her fists.

"Oh, I forgot...he's a pervert as well," Lucy muttered, making Sin face-palm.

"Uho! Don't touch my woman!" roared the monkey.

"Your woman?! This is the moo-st unforgivable remark! You should say "my boobs" instead!" Taurus proclaimed as steam flowed from his nose.

"That's not right!" Lucy shouted. "Anyway, Taurus knock him out!"

"Sure, anything to protect your sexy boobs, Lucy-san! I'm moo-re than ready!" Taurus answered as he reached for his axe.

"I hope you are ready for a beating stupid moo-nkey!" Taurus exclaimed as he slammed his axe to the ground and sent a shockwave toward the Vulcan, but it quickly dodged as it jumped out of the way. The Vulcan rushed towards Taurus with his arms ready to land a powerful blow. Taurus moved his axe in front of him and prepared to counter the monkey's attack. They clashed against each other with full force. Their strength seemed equal until Sin came and dropped an ice spike on the Vulcan's head. It distracted the monkey for a mere second, but that was enough. Taurus pushed him away and swung his axe, knocking him out.

"Nice work you two!" Lucy shouted joyfully.

"Anything for your sexy boobs, Lucy-san!" Taurus answered with hearts in his eyes, making Lucy face-palm before she remembered something Natsu had said earlier.

"Hey, Sin, why did Natsu call this Vulcan Macao?" Lucy wondered.

"That's because he is Macao," Sin answered as the Vulcan started to glow and shrink. A human male appeared in its place. Lucy stared in shock as Sin started to explain. "Vulcans survive by using **Teiku Ōbā **to possess their victim's body and uses it as their own, they are just monstrous body abductors."

At the same time Natsu continued to fight with the other three Vulcans. They recovered from his last attack and all of them now rushed toward the god slayer. "Nice try!" Natsu shouted in rapture as he leapt toward the enemies. **"Senjin no ****Shōkya**!" He landed a crushing blow right into the maw of the one of the Vulcans, smashing him into floor then somersaulted and performed another fist attack. **"Senjin no Saiken!"** He used both of his fists to knock down the last two monkeys. The Vulcans had no time to recover as Natsu shouted "**Senjin no Dogō!"** A massive flow of crimson energy produced a powerful blast that smashed the Vulcans into the wall, knocking them out. However, Natsu was not finish yet: **"Senjin no Bakusō!"** The god slayer brought his arms together and created a massive magic spear composed of crimson energy and hurled it at the Vulcans. The spear landed a direct hit and obliterated part of the cave's wall, creating a huge hole and throwing the monsters through it.

(End of song)

"Oh my… I think I overdid it again… Ah, who cares – no one will ask me to pay for it!" Natsu smiled to himself as he dashed toward Lucy and Sin to check Macao. He knows, however, that he is lucky – just a bit more damage and the entire cave would have collapsed…

"That's Natsu for you. He never can stop in time," Sin commented as Lucy stared at the current result of the god slayer's thirst for destruction.

"How's Macao?" Natsu inquired as he approached Lucy and Sin, who already started to unpack a first aid kit and bandage Macao's wounds.

"Pretty bad I'm afraid. He's suffered several severe wounds and chilblains. We should transfer him to warmth as fast as possible…" Lucy explained as she removed her winter coat and covered Macao's body with it.

"Damn, I was afraid of this. There was a violent fight before the Vulcan finally took him over," Natsu said as he examined Macao. "No time to waste, come on, we have to carry him away from this mountain," the god slayer stated as he picked up his friend's body. "And, by the way Lucy, thanks for learning the first aids methods wherever you did, Macao is alive thanks to you…"

Lucy blushed a little as Sin commented, "Natsu only knows how to do damage, not how to treat it."

* * *

(Three hours later)

Natsu's group reached the low lands, where the environment became warm enough for Macao to recover a bit. "Okay, we'll put him here," the god slayer pointed at the bottom of large tree. "We'll wait here until he regains consciousness. I don't want Romeo to see him like this."

Lucy nodded. She understood Natsu's reasoning.

After about five minutes Lucy noticed Macao move a little. "Hey, look! It seems he's waking up!"

Macao opened his eyes and saw Natsu, his familiar and some blonde girl staring at him quite worryingly. "Natsu… gah… ghau… Is that you?"

"Hey, hey, take it easy Macao. People should not try to run around right after returning from a frozen hell." Natsu pressed Macao to the ground, restraining his movements.

"Shit… What a shame… I got nineteen… of them… but twentieth one took me over…" Macao tried to explain. Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she listened.

'_What?! There were nineteenth more of those monkeys?! And he took care of all of them by himself?!'_ Lucy thought. She also remembered how Natsu effortlessly smashed three of the monkeys by himself. _'Amazing… I'm really no match for them…'_

"Sorry Natsu, but I'm angry at myself. How can I face Romeo like this?" Macao asked but the god slayer only smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asked as he offered his hand for Macao to grab. "After defeating nineteen monsters you can proudly face anyone," the salmon-haired boy said as Macao stood up. "By the way, Macao, this is our newest guild member, Lucy and it is her you should be thanking for bandaging your wounds. You are well aware of my own medical skills." Natsu smirked as Lucy blushed a little.

"Thank you, young lady," Macao thanked her. "Damn, that's one way to meet with new guild member…" Macao mumbled, making Lucy chuckle a little.

"You know how to cheer up people, Natsu," Lucy commented.

"Two and half years ago I lost a very good friend of mine and despite being an ass back then, most people tried to cheer me up. Now it's my turn to return the favor," Natsu replied.

"C'mon Macao, Romeo is awaiting for your return. Let's tell him about the nineteen monsters!" Sin suggested.

"All right Sin, though if it was your partner or his beloved, the amount would have been much higher." Macao chuckled, making Lucy look at Natsu curiously.

"Macao, do you want me to take you back to the mount and leave you in the snow?" Natsu asked with narrowed eyes.

"Easy, easy Natsu, it's just a joke!" Macao assured him. "Though I really want to be a guest at their wedding," he whispered to Sin. Unfortunately Natsu heard it…

"That's it! I'll be the guest at your burial! **Senjin no Sa…**" Natsu swung his fist, but Sin grabbed it.

"Enough Natsu. Macao, shut up. Come on, we have to go." Sin sounded quite angry. Macao was already quite scared, so he did not argue.

After this scene Lucy decided to hold onto her curiosity for a bit.

* * *

(Two hours later in Magnolia town)

It was already sunset as an extremely sad and worried Romeo sat on the border fence with his head hung, looking down at the pavement. He remembered how he was bullied and insulted by other boys because his dad is a wizard.

_"What's so great about Fairy Tail mages?"_

_"They are just a bunch of cowards who spent all their time drinking!"_

_"We all want to become knights when we grow up!"_

_"Wizards are all a bunch of drunks!"_

He then remembered how he begged his father to take a mission so that the humiliating teasing would stop. He remembered that his dad gave him a cheerful wink before he picked a mission and left.

"Romeo! We're back!" the god slayer's voice called out, catching Romeo's attention. When he looked up from the pavement he saw his father leaning on Natsu's shoulder. They were accompanied by Sin and the blonde girl whose name he did not know yet.

Romeo's eyes widened from happiness before he ran toward his father. However, then he came close he lowered his head and said, "Dad…I'm sorry…"

"No Romeo, it is I who should say sorry," Macao answered. "Sorry for making you worry."

"It's all right, I'm the son of a wizard, after all," Romeo said as Natsu saluted to Macao and started to walk toward the guild building.

"Then when those brats tease you next time, ask them if their old man can defeat nineteen monsters by himself!" Macao boasted.

"Natsu-san! Sin! Thank you!.." Romeo shouted as Natsu and Sin raised their hands and waved "And thank you too, Lucy-nee!" Macao had told his son about this new girl. Lucy turned a little and waved back with a smile on her face.

"Alright Lucy, I'm going to give a report about Macao to the master. Thanks for your help and sorry that our rescue mission took this long, but I think you still have time to find a place to settle into. If you get no luck with it come to my place, I'll find a room for you." Natsu said as he entered the guildhall.

"Oh, right! I need a house!" Lucy yelled in a panic and rushed toward the town's center, as she hoped to find some rent offer at the city bulletin board.

As she ran she thought, _'Fairy Tail is a reckless and outrageous guild, but it's also fun, heartwarming and kind. I'm still a rookie mage, but I think I'll enjoy being a part of this guild a lot…'_ Lucy smiled to herself _'I also have to ask Mira about this "Natsu's beloved" as soon as I can, or I'll just die from curiosity!'_

* * *

_Spell list:_

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

******Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin no ****Shōkya** – War God's Shock Leg

**Senjin ****no Bakusō** –War God's Explosive Spear

**Senjin no Sōken** –War God's Twin Swords

**Terekineshisu** – Telekinesis

**Majikku Kādo** – Magic Cards

**Hororogiumu** – Horologium

**Taurosu** – Taurus

**Teiku Ōbā **– Take Over

…

Okay people this is it, chapter II completed. I hope it was enjoyable for you. And I would like to know your opinion about this chapter, so be sure to **REVIEW** it!

See you in the next chapter – **Chapter III – Thirst For Annihilation.**


	3. Thirst For Annihilation

Okay people, here I am again =)

First – thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really appreciating it.

Silent Reader 6100, Toaneo07 Ver2.0, kitnz, dzbegoun, kt, AceLogia, abhishekunnikm, TRAFALGARLAWSGURL22, Wrath Dragoneel and all Guests who had reviewed my work – many thanks people =)

To kt: "Natsu's beloved" who's that?" I actually think it's quite obvious since story have two declared characters =)

I hope to see some reviews about next chapters too.

Also I want to note that Manga is my primary source of canon material, not the anime.

Now, let's go for chapter 3.

* * *

**Chapter III – Thirst For Annihilation**

…

Year 784, July 5th, 9 AM, Town of Magnolia.

Lucy woke up and stretched herself voluptuously as welcoming morning sun lightened up her room. Everything turned out wonderfully – Lucy not only joined Fairy Tail and even helped to bring one of its mages back home at her very first day, she also was able to rent a nice house that costs only seventy thousand jewels a month – very decent price for such a place. This day promised to be nice either. At first Lucy took a relaxing bath, but when she already decided to go to the kitchen to make a breakfast, she heard someone knocked to her door.

'_Who could it be so early?'_ Stellar mage thought as she moved to the window to look at visitors. She leaned out of the second floor's window and looked down only to see Natsu, Sin and Mirajane. "Hi guys! Just a minute and I'll let you in!" She shouted with a smile, Lucy figured out what her friends most likely came to check how's she settled.

"Don't bother" Natsu answered with a wink as he waved his hand and used his telekinetic powers to open lock from the inside. Door opened and Lucy's guests entered to the house.

'_Damn, I have to learn that trick eventually…'_ Stellar mage thought as she moved to the living room to meet with the others.

"Morning, Lucy" Natsu greet her as he moved to table and placed a bottle of wine on it, a pricy bottle…

Lucy raised an eyebrow as she looked at the bottle while Natsu started to look around in search for wineglasses. "Natsu, it's only nine this morning, don't you think that's too early for this, to say the least?" Stellar mage asked.

"I told you she won't approve this idea…" Mirajane noticed.

"What's the matter?" Asked Natsu with a smile. "Trust me – it is tasty at any time of the day" He said casually as he found wineglasses and moved to the cupboard to take them "It's not the cheap booze that Cana drinks around the clock"

"Natsu is immune to alcohol intoxication, and he likes the taste of good wine" Sin explained.

"But what about us?!" Lucy asked in shock, she never heard that someone could be immune to alcohol "I'll become drunk!"

"Relax, blonde, this is the lightest wine in my possession and I did not ask you to drink a whole bottle" Natsu already filled three wineglasses by beautifully colored scarlet liquid. "It is to celebrate your house warming and your accession into the guild" God slayer said as he looked at Mira for support.

Blue-eyed girl rolled her eyes. "It's all right Lucy, I'll join the toast, too" She said reluctantly and grabbed a wineglass.

"Okay, but only this once, to celebrate my accession into the guild" Lucy said and took a wineglass, she couldn't deny a favor to the one who invited her into the guild of her dream.

"For the new life, filled with adventures!" Natsu said his toast and all three of them emptied their wineglasses, Sin did not drink anything by understandable reason.

Lucy had to admit – taste of this wine was wonderful "Wow, nice one Natsu! Its taste is beautiful, just like its color" Lucy admitted.

Sin smirked "Yeah, its color is exactly the same as color of his girlfriend's hair." At the next moment bolt of crimson energy smashed little bone creature into the wall.

"Sin, I warned you, did not I?" God slayer noticed with narrowed eyes as Mira giggled at Natsu's reaction.

"Hey! Don't you dare to use your magic inside my house! I don't want it to be blasted to pieces… Oh…" Lucy interrupted her speech as she felt that wine struck her in head _'Damn, it's only a half-past nine in the morning and I'm already drunk… Mother would not approved this…'_

"Anyway, is there a reason for you three to come here, I mean, apart from make me drunk?" Lucy asked as she felt a little dizziness.

"Oh, yea!" Natsu seemed as if he remembered something "I came here for business, he came here because I came here and she came here to make sure I'll not try to seduce and rape you" He said carelessly.

"WHAT?!" Both girls yelled at the same time.

"I never said anything like this!" Mirajane stated resentfully as Lucy was unable to say anything at all.

"Easy Mira, just kidding" Natsu waved her off "Oh, and don't bother with it, you know as good as I am – these "dark glares" does not work on me" He added as he noticed Mira's sight.

"You know, Sin is right – this red-haired girlfriend of yours – she is the only suitable girl for you in entire country – no one else might tolerate your insolence" Mira hissed acidly.

However, Natsu ignored her statement as something else catched his attention – he examined some manuscript that he found on the desk "Hmm, what do we have here?.." This sight moved Lucy out from her shock

"Hey! Don't touch it!" Lucy shouted as she leaped toward Natsu and snatched the papers from his hands. God slayer was so dazes by her sudden move that he could not do anything.

However, Natsu hid his surprise "As you wish."

"By the way Lucy, how many keys do you have a contract with?" Mirajane asked making Lucy relax a bit.

"Six units. We count stellar spirits in units. These silver keys are the ones you can buy at store." Lucy placed the silver keys on the table. "The ones I have are **Horologium the Clock, Crux the Southern Cross **and** Lyra the Lyre**" Lucy explained.

"And these gold keys are very rare ones that open the gates of the ecliptic zodiac" Lucy said as she laid them on the table as well.

"I've got **The Golden Bull, ****Taurosu****; The Water Bearer, ****Akueriasu** and the last one is **The Giant Crab, ****Kyansā****.** By the way people, how would you like to see how a contract is made between the stellar spirit mage and **Seirei**? Now that I remember, I haven't made a contract with **the Canis Minor, Nicora**, that I bought in Harujion" Lucy offered.

"Really? That should be interesting" Natsu agreed.

"Perfect timing! I'll show you how **Seirei**** Madōshi** and **Seirei** make a contract!" Shouted Lucy enthusiastically as she rushed to grab her newest key.

"I wonder if she has to sign a blood pact…" Sin smirked

"I don't think so…" Mira smiled a little.

"We don't need blood or anything like that, just watch you three!" Lucy shushed at them.

Lucy started to cast her spell **"I am the person who connects the road to the spirit world. Thou… shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate. Open a door to the Canis Minor,** **Nicora!" **A magic seal appeared under Lucy and several bubbles came out of the magic circle before assembling into a small white creature with a carrot-like nose.

"Wow, so cute!" Mirajane exclaimed as she got close to Nikola.

"What the hell is this?" Natsu asked with eyebrow raised "By it looks this… thing have no combat capabilities at all…"

"You promised to stop calling my spirits "Things!" Lucy growled "And not everything in this world should have "combat capabilities". Gates of Canis Minordoesn't consume too much magic energy, so these little guys are popular for being a cherished stellar spirits" Lucy explained as she grabbed a pencil and a small notebook. "Alright then, let's move to the contract."

"Pupuuun." Nicola replied.

"Mondays?" Lucy asked.

"Puuuuun." It shook its head, making Lucy write it down.

"Tuesdays?"

"Pun" This time she got a nod; as Lucy was doing this Natsu and the others were looking at the process with mixed impressions.

"It's rather plain, isn't it?" Sin muttered.

"Wednesdays?"

"Pupuuun!"

"I can call you in Thursdays too?"

"To think it was that simple." Mirajane commented, while Natsu kept silence as he watched.

"Okay! Contract done!" Lucy smiled and the creature jumped to her happily.

"Well, that was a magical waste of time…" Natsu commented to the others, he was not impressed at all. However, he was just ignored.

"While it does look easy, it is really important." Lucy said as she started to explain. "**Seirei Madōshi** regards contracts, meaning promises, with utmost importance. That's why I make sure to never ever break any of my promises" Lucy stated proudly.

"Interesting moral code you have…" Natsu commented "Then you should be very careful with promises you make, don't you?"

"Of course!" Lucy said confidently as she remembered something "Oh yeah, I need to name my new spirit!"

"Isn't it Nicola?" Sin asked as he and Mirajane continue to examine it.

"No, that is its generic name." Lucy went quiet for a few moments before a name came to mind. "I got it! Come, Plue!" Plue ran into Lucy's arms.

"Plue?" Natsu questioned.

"Uh-huh, doesn't it sounds cute?" Lucy smiled as she continued to tenderly hug this white... something.

"Okay, but tell me – how the hell this thi… he is related to a dogs?" Natsu asked, stuttering a little.

Lucy thought about it a little, but nothing came to her mind.

Suddenly Plue escaped from Lucy's hold and began to dance. "Huh? Plue, what are you doing?" Lucy asked.

"May be he tried to say something" Mirajane made a guess.

"No idea" Sin replied.

"If even **Seirei Madōshi** can't understand him, then how we should?" Looks like Natsu completely lost his interest to the subject.

Lucy started to get tired from his indifference "Natsu, you mentioned that you came here to discuss some business, didn't you?"

"Oh yea, right" Natsu said as he remembered why he came here in the first place. "Yesterday I talked to a master and he asked me to show you the basics about missions, and since I still need a little money to win a bet I decided to ask you to come along with me on my next mission. In other words, I'm inviting you into a temporary team."

"Team?" Lucy asked.

"You see, all the members of Fairy Tail are nakama, but we make teams with whoever we get along with. If you are in a team, difficult requests will be easier" Mirajane explained.

"Team's size are unlimited, you just have to agree about reward splitting" Sin added.

"Wow, that's sounds fun!" Lucy exclaimed with enthusiasm "But why you agreed to babysit with the newbie?"

"To be honest, I really prefer to work with Sin only, my thoughts become messy when other people constantly swirls around me…" Natsu shrugged "On the other hand, you already helped me twice so I think you are quite reliable, also I'm well aware of your magic skills and capabilities, so we'll handle it just fine. In addition, this is some kind of unofficial rule of our guild – one of our guild's more experienced members form a temporary team with a newcomer and go on a missions so they can learn the requirements for teams. This will allow you to make an informed choice" Natsu finished explanation as Mirajane gave him very warm smile for some reason.

"Natsu…" Mira tried to say something but God slayer cut her off.

"Don't worry my dear, I won't touch her boobs, you know that I prefer yours above everyone else's" He stated carelessly.

Mira let out a deep sigh, but Lucy could swear she heard something like "...I wish it was a truth..." in it.

"Remember Lucy, I can't command you to do it, I just asking for it. So what do you say? Want to form a team?" Natsu asked with a wink.

_'Well… it could be a lot of fun'_ Lucy thought as she stared at Natsu for a second before beaming with joy.

"Sure!" Lucy responded with a bright smile. "However, before we start – can anyone enlighten me about this "bet" you constantly mention?"

God slayer nodded and Sin started to explain "A while ago Natsu made a bet with another senior mage of our guild – Natsu said that you can earn more money by completing simpler missions with common reward rather than doing tough missions with big reward. You see, difficult, or so-called S-rank missions usually require lot of traveling and complex preparations. For example - the one that she took has estimated time about four weeks."

"Not to mention that such missions are extremely dangerous…" Mira added with sad voice, making Natsu to put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Lucy was curious what's this all about and who is this "another senior mage", but she decided to not to ask too much questions in one day.

"Anyway, despite I only got 400 000 jewels as a reward for my mission in Harujeon, I'm already earned exact the same amount of money that she could earn for completing her mission if no collateral damage was done, that is very unlikely. However, to make sure I will win the bet, I have to earn just one more jewel, so I'm good with splitting reward with you Lucy."

"This is the mission I had chosen for us, it is nearby and we should be able to complete it today. Here, take a look" Natsu said as he handed over some scroll to stellar mage.

"I chose a one-day mission because tomorrow is the last day, eligible for earning money for our bet, so I want to have it as a reserve if this mission will be canceled, etc…"

Lucy took a scroll, but before unwrapping it she asked "Natsu, why did you always say "our bet" instead of "my bet"? Is this… opponent of yours, is it someone close to you?" There were absolutely no jeers in Lucy's voice – it was a plain, honest question.

However, for some reason Natsu instinctively made a step back and his sight became a little worried, first time since Lucy met with him. Sin and Mirajane immediately turned toward Natsu.

"Wow, that's a skills of observation" Mirajane praised Lucy.

"What's up Natsu, blurted out too much?" Sin asked with very disgusting smirk.

"Is something wrong? Did I asked something inappropriate?" Lucy noticed strange behavior of people around her.

Natsu recovered pretty quickly "Sin, make me a favor – shut your mouth. Lucy – it's all right, nothing to worry about, I'm just used the wrong figure of speech." However, Natsu made a notice to himself – this cute blonde is cleverer than she looks.

"Let's see, Shirotsume Town... about two hours on carriage..." She then looked closely at the request and was surprised by it. "No way! Two hundred thousand jewels just for taking a single book from the mansion of this Duke of Everlue person?!" Lucy exclaimed in slight shock.

"Yep, easy money" Natsu confirmed.

However, Lucy's eyes widened then she read further – the notice under the picture of quite disgusting chubby old man with idiotic smile "The Duke of Everlue: this person is a womanizer, a pervert, and hentai. He is now hiring a blond-haired maid… HRMMM?!"

Lucy looked back at Natsu, who's imperturbably stood near window.

"Natsu, what is this?!" She asked, pointing to the note.

"This is the reason why I had chosen this mission for us. I wanted to show you that you have to choose mission according to specific benefits of your team members. For you this task should be piece of cake" Natsu explained.

"Well… yes… but…" Lucy stuttered in confusion.

"What's wrong Lucy – do you have another moral code that forbids you to use your woman's beauty?" Natsu asked with raised eyebrow...

"What?! Of course not! I can and I will! Just let me at this guy!" Lucy vowed.

"Now that's a Fairy Tail spirit!" Sin approved.

"You got it! We'll met in 30 minutes at Magnolia marketplace, we'll ride a carriage from there, prepare yourself Lucy" Said Natsu as he and other visitors moved to house's exit.

"I'll be there!" Lucy confirmed.

Outside Lucy's house Mirajane waved to Natsu "I'm heading to the guild, Natsu, please be careful"

"Don't you worry Mira, this evening we'll be back with success and money so I could win ou… my bet" Natsu stuttered at last word, making Mira to chuckle a little.

* * *

Year 784, July 5th, 11:05 AM, Fairy Tail guild hall.

"Hmm? Job at Everlue mansion for 200 000 jewels… Does someone took it already? Levy asked as she stood looking at the request board, along with Jet and Droy, in search for a mission they could take.

"Yes, Natsu took this request earlier this morning; he has chosen it as a tutorial for Lucy, they left about an hour ago" Mirajane said as she cleaned the plates from the tables, causing whole Team Shadow Gear to make a sigh.

"Aww, that's what I get for hesitating" Levy said with vexation, crossing her arms.

"It might be better that you did not go, Levy" Makarov said from the counter with his usual cunning smirk "The job… it's become a little troublesome… I just got the message from the client"

"It's been canceled?" Mira asked a bit worriedly, this will be very unfortunate, Lucy was so enthusiastic when Natsu told her that he is going to show her how to handle team mission, and for Natsu it will be a waste of precious time…

"On the contrary, it seems the reward has been upped to two million jewels… or so I was told" He finished with a knowing grin, causing everyone's eyes to widen at the amount.

"Ten times more?!" Levy asked in shock.

"Two million jewels for one book?!" Droy added.

"It's almost the same reward as for subjugation mission!" Jet couldn't believe his ears.

"Why was it increased so suddenly?" Mirajane asked but Makarov only shook his head as an answer.

"Natsu, please be careful, take care of Lucy…" Mirajane whispered to herself.

"Don't worry Nee-chan, everything will be okay, Natsu can handle even an S-rank mission alone…" Elfman tried to calm her down.

"Yes… unlike me…" Mira said with voice full of sadness as she looked to the floor, making her brother to hug her for solace.

"By the way, can anyone tell me where Gray is?" Makarov asked casually, distracting Mirajane from sad thoughts.

"Ah yes, I forgot – we received a message from him. Looks like he run into something and he delayed his return until tomorrow" Mirajane reported.

"Looks like he found something… but life is more interesting this way" Makarov smirked.

* * *

Year 784, July 5th, 11:25 AM, somewhere between Whiteclaw and Magnolia (A/N: Shirotsume means "White claw" on Kanji, use Kun'yomi).

"Now that I think about it, this should be a pretty interesting job, isn't it?" Lucy said as she looked at Natsu and Sin, who were sitting on the carriage's seats across from her. The wagon would be arriving in Whiteclaw Town in a short while.

"Sure thing" Natsu agreed "I doubt there is a large quantity of missions where you could use your woman's beauty to infiltrate someone's house."

"Of course, moreover, this is my first job!" Lucy agreed with smile full of enthusiasm, before adjusting her hair "I'm sure everything will turn out well, after all, I have a great confidence in my sex appeal" Lucy stated as she imagined herself in different revealing suits and seductive poses.

"Sorry, I cannot confirm it" Lil bone dragon shrugged.

"Yes, you are very sexy Lucy, but remember – this may not be the case…" Natsu commented her words.

"What do you mean? According to the request I just have to sneak into the mansion and get one book, right?" Lucy was confused a little but still pleased by Natsu's opinion about her looks.

"I mean that you should always keep in mind – everything that was written into request list – all of it was written from client point of view" Natsu explained. "This information about Everlue's… peculiarity – it very well may be a rumors or speculations."

Actually, Lucy did not thought about it, and after she heard Natsu's words her smile waned a little.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to discourage you" Natsu added as he saw Lucy's reaction "I just want to remind you that you always have to prepare a secondary plan, in case if your main was developed according to false data."

"Can I assume that you already have this "Plan B" for this mission?" Lucy asked with smile.

"Of course, and in case if "Plan B" will fail as well I'm always have the "Plan C", or so-called "Plan T.A." Natsu saluted to her.

"T.A? What's this mean" Lucy wondered.

"Total Annihilation" Sin explained.

"Okaaay…" Lucy muttered uncertainly. "Well, I understand what you are saying, but I am still hope that I will be able to acquire the book without noise and unnecessary violence" She said with confidence.

"We'll see soon enough, won't we?" Natsu smiled in answer.

* * *

Year 784, July 5th, 12:05 PM, Whiteclaw town.

"We're finally arrived!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully as she, Natsu and Sin hopped off the carriage and stretched a bit. "Well, that's a quite cute little town" Lucy noted as she looked around.

"Not really" Natsu disagreed with her "Small cities like this one still lives by semi-feudal rules, so rich and influential individuals, like this Everlue, still have huge authority in such towns. I don't like it…"

"Take it easy Natsu, no one forces you to live here" Sin tried to convince him "Just let this people be, I think they adapted themselves to such life"

"Yea, yea…" Natsu agreed reluctantly "Anyway, let's get something for breakfast" Natsu suggested as he remembered that he was "forced" to watch the boring process of creation the contract with **Sierie**.

"Oh, by the way, Natsu – what's these red clouds which you eat?" Lucy asked the question that irritates her since battle in Harujion "Can you consume them from… anyone?" She added cautiously.

Natsu chuckled a little "Relax Lucy, I can't just drain energy from random people around me, don't worry. These "red clouds" as you called them – this is an essence of negative energy – fear, anger, hate. In order to consume them I first must render my enemies unable to express these feelings through violence, in other words – I have to defeat them in battle. After a person became unable to do anything I can drain unreleased aggression from him to consume it and replenish my powers."

"I see… It sounds so weird, but pretty cool at the same time" Lucy scratched her cheek "And this crimson energy that you use in combat – it is essence of aggression, right?"

"Basically, yes" Natsu confirmed.

"So, can't you just eat your own magic?" Lucy asked.

Natsu snorted as if Lucy said something very stupid "Lucy, did you ever thought about drinking... your own lactose, for example?"

Well, actually Lucy never thought about it, but now she did and her face became a bit green due to the nausea.

"It's kind of the same thing with my magic" God slayer replied as he watched Lucy's reaction.

'_It's good thing I did not asked it __after__ breakfast!'_ Lucy thought angrily as she at last managed to throw weird thoughts out of her mind.

At the same time Natsu's attention became focused on restaurant in a few meters in front of him. "That's suit us well enough, let's stop here to a quick bite to eat before meeting the client."

"Go ahead" Lucy growled "I lost my appetite, thanks to you!"

"You're welcome" Natsu smirked. "But you know, you really need a stronger stomach, as a mage of our guild you have to learn to eat in extreme conditions – you may need this power in battle" He stated as he moved toward restaurant.

"Another time" Lucy waved him off "moreover, I have to do some preparations for the mission" Lucy added as she started to walk away with strong wish to at last take a look at this mysterious girl who can tolerate this guy's insolence and causticity, as everyone stated.

* * *

A little while later Natsu and Sin were sitting at one of the tables, outside the building, so Lucy might easily notice them in case she decide to come back. Natsu was finishing his omelette with bacon and Sin lectured him again.

"You know how to do a sweet talk" Lil dragon shook his head.

"Relax, she is just a bit immature yet, actually that lactose stuff is not that bad" Natsu waved him off.

"Nice… You are not only caustically ass, you are also a pervert" Sin sighed.

"So?" Natsu asked.

"So that red-haired pain in the ass is not only the girl who will fit you perfectly, she is the only girl in this world who could fit you at all" Sin stated.

"Let me eat in peace" Natsu answered indifferently.

"What's you two talking about?" Lucy's voice called out from behind them.

"Oh Lucy, good timing, sit down and order so-…" Natsu turned around and saw Lucy in a maid uniform "…-me food…"

"Lucy, you are been already enlisted to the staff?" Natsu asked.

"Nope" Lucy answered with smile

Natsu's eyes blazed from rapture and Sin understood that he is not going to say anything good. "Then where did you get this uniform, Lucy? Do you provide… such kind of services too? I want to see a nurse uniform then!"

"Screw you Natsu!" Yelled Lucy as she turned around and started to walk away.

"Okay, okay, Lucy – I'm sorry" Natsu understood that this time he went overboard a bit. God slayer caught up with her "I just tried to say that you should not wear staff uniform until you went through interview"

"Then deliver us from your dirty jokes" Sin commented "Spare them for the one you love"

"Sin, stop making on my nerves" Natsu hissed.

"Enough, I have a headache from you two" Lucy cut them off. "Come on, the client is waiting for us" She continued to march forward.

"Downer" Natsu and Sin said simultaneously.

* * *

"Yes, I admit Lucy, you look very cute in this uniform, but this is not the case. In front of client you will look stupid in this!" Natsu could not settle down.

Lucy was pleased by Natsu's opinion but continued to stand her ground "Let me be Natsu!"

Lil bone dragon quietly flew near them with permanent face-palm.

Continuing to argue they arrived in front of a mansion. Lucy stared at it amazement as they walked toward the front door. Natsu checked the address.

"All right, it seems this is the place." Natsu stated as he examined the mansion by evaluating sight.

Lucy looked at Natsu and asked "So, this the client's home?" After receiving a nod from the God slayer, Lucy thought to herself as Natsu got close to the door. _'It's magnificent, as expected from someone who would pay two hundred-thousand jewels for a book. He must be rich...'_

"Looks like two nobles can't resolve some conflict by words" Natsu speculated about their mission as he found a doorbell button and pushed it using his telekinetic power.

"May I have your name, please?" Someone behind the door asked Natsu, confusing all three of visitors slightly.

"We're here for your request, from mage gui…" Natsu was interrupted by voice from inside.

"Shh! Be quiet, please!.." Voice asked, confusing Lucy and others even more "…excuse me, but can you enter from the back door?"

"Alright..." Natsu replied with narrowed eyes before walking around the house to the back door. "Keep your eyes open people, this secrecy looks suspicious" Natsu warned his team.

As they reached the back door a tall, grey-haired man in dark-green suit let them in. "I'm terribly sorry about earlier." The man apologized. "I'm the client, my name is Kaby Melon and this is my wife" He pointed at woman that stood behind him.

"Good morning Mr. Melon, my name is Natsu Dragneel, this is Lucy…" Natsu made a pause as he remembered that he did not know Lucy's last name "…and this is my companion – Sin" Natsu pointed at little glowing bone dragon as Melon gulped a bit, Sin was weird enough even without name.

_'Melon…_ _I'm sure I heard that name before…and this town's name sounds familiar as well...but where could I...?'_ Lucy thought. She just couldn't place a finger on it.

"I wouldn't have imagined a mage from the renowned Fairy Tail would accept this job" Kaby told them.

"Why not?" Sin asked, "Good money for relatively simple job"

'_Too good,_ _the request and reward didn't really match'_ Lucy thought.

"And you are young, too. You must be a famous mage" Melon suggested as he carefully tried to avoid looking at bone creature.

"Natsu is also called "The Ravager" Sin commented.

"Really? Of course, I heard about you!" Melon said joyfully, also he looks as if he's understood something. "It's quite understandable that so famous mage can afford such a pretty maidservant following him even on assignments. Of course, she can rest here while you will be on mission"

After these words Sin fell on the floor from laugher, Lucy froze like paralyzed and Natsu looked at her with condescending smile.

"Well, she's actually not my servant, she's a mage of our guild, too. She wants to use this outfit as a disguise, according the information on a blonde maid being wanted which you provided in the request message" Natsu explained, he felt pity for a young girl.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry for that remark about maidservant…" Kaby apologized.

"Don't you worry, no offence taken. I warned her that she should not wear this uniform until she will be actually enlisted to the staff" Natsu commented

"I kinda wanna go home now…" Lucy whimpered with eyewater in her eyes.

"Okay then, let's talk about the work." Kaby cleared his throat and leaned forward a little.

"You got it" Natsu agreed.

"It's about time…" Sin murmured as he landed on Natsu's shoulder. Lucy didn't respond however, she became all attention as she about to hear of what she had to do on her first job as a Fairy Tail mage.

"There's only one thing that I'm asking you to do: the one and only copy of "Day Break" that duke of Everlue owns… Please incinerate it!" He explained the request.

"So we don't have to steal it?" Lucy asked in slight confusion.

"I'm basically asking you to destroy someone's possession without permission, so it's almost the same as stealing…" Mr. Melon answered to her.

"That's surprising… I thought you were gonna ask us to retrieve the book that you need to finish your collection or something…" Lucy speculated.

"That's not of our business Lucy, client's reasons are his own" Natsu stated. "However, Mr. Melon, I want to clarify some things about that 200 000 jewels reward."

"Well, actually I'll pay two million jewels… the contingency fee is two million." Melon said with strange expression.

"Two million?!" Lucy asked in shock as she stood up from the floor (she fell from sofa when heard the sum) "But that's insane amount of money!"

"Oh my, it seems you weren't aware of the reward increase." Melon guessed by her reaction.

"Actually, this statement made things even more odd" Natsu said with raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean" Kaby wondered.

"I mean that I have some reasons for doubts about your solvency" Natsu explained politely.

"Why do you saying such a things?!" Kaby said a bit nervously.

"Surely owner of house like this one can afford two million!" Lucy looked at Natsu as if he was insane.

"Surely he can… too bad he is not you, Mr. Melon" Natsu smirked with strange, almost pitiful expression.

"Wh… What?... How?..." Melon stuttered as Lucy looked at Natsu with lost expression.

"How did I know? It was not that hard" Natsu shrugged. "I could even ignore your strange request about back door, there are other facts. First – you wear a pricy and relatively fresh suit, but its fashion is outdated, that mean it is not new, you just wear it rarely. No noble could allow it. Second – I saw inner side of your palms, their skin coarsened but has no cuts, it means you are not a handicraftsman but you carry the stuff often. My guess – you own a small shop in the town. In addition, your wife's face is weather-beaten, she is often outdoors. My guess – she is responsible for delivering the merchandise. And third – you can't even settle down on this sofa – obviously it's not yours" Natsu smiled, pleased by effect that his words caused. "Oh yea, and your wife wears silver earrings – not too noble" he smirked.

Melons and Lucy looked at him with saucer-wide eyes, Sin showed no reaction – in the end he knows Natsu for several years.

"Unbelievable…" Kaby whispered, he was shocked at the young man's incredible observation skill and logic, despite argument about sofa sounds strange. "Okay, I'm sorry about the deception, but I assure you, young people – I have the money that I promised as the reward" Melon stated confidently. "It's my life savings, if you want I can show you the money right now" He added.

"No need" Natsu answered. "Now I believe you and don't worry – I have no intentions to ask why you want to rid of this book so desperately, I'll just do my job." Natsu reached a hand for handshake.

Melon took Natsu's arm and shook it "I can't forgive that book's existence, it must be wiped out from this world."

"You got yourself a deal, Mr. Melon, we will be back with success, today. My word." Natsu assured him before addressing to Lucy and Sin. "Very well, we should be going then. Lucy, Sin – come on. Don't worry Mr. Melon – wiping out things is my specialty!" Natsu grinned as they marched to the door.

'_He can't forgive the existence of the book…' _Lucy thought as she turned back towards the mansion_ 'Why did he willing to hand over his life savings for its destruction?'_

"…Darling, are you sure you can entrust the job to kids like them?" Kaby's wife asked as the two watched the wizards leave. "The other guild failed the same mission last week, from the Duke of Everlue's standing point it was nothing but a failed robbery. There is no doubt that the security has been tightened, getting into the mansion will be even more difficult."

"I know… I know that but I have to remove that book from this world" Kaby replied as he buried his face in his hands.

* * *

Year 784, July 5th, 13:30 PM, Whiteclaw town, at the gates of Duke of Everlue mansion.

"Excuse me; I came to apply for the blond-haired maid position! Is anybody there?" Lucy shouted at the mansion, standing outside the gates. She chuckled a little as she thought of her plan. _'It's all too easy… I just have to get this job, then I'll find the book, burn it and my mission will be completed. How should I spend my reward…'_

Few tens meters away Natsu and Sin were sitting on the large stone. They were on standby to interfere if anything goes wrong, also Natsu observed Lucy's actions.

"Good luck Lucy, do your best" Sin whispered as he watched.

"Don't worry, we'll watch your back" Natsu waved to her.

Lucy didn't have to wait long as a gorilla maid burst out of the ground and landed right in front of her, shocking Lucy by her appearance. Blonde jerked back as gorilla maid asked "Maid applicant?"

"Y..yes…" Lucy answered uncertainly.

"There is a girl who came for the maid position, my master!" gorilla maid yelled and not long after that another figure appeared, this time a short, plump, ugly man with a moustache coming out of his nostrils – Duke of Everlue.

"Let me see" he said and started to examine Lucy. She kept a stiff upper lip as that pathetic man stared at her, examining her straight legs, huge breasts, cute face and natural smile.

"Rejected! Go home, ugly!" He decided at last.

Lucy's face instantly became red from shock and unmasked resent. She tried to say something but big maid lift her in the air and said "That's it, time to go home, ugly!"

"For someone as great as I am… Only beautiful girls would suit me, boyoyo!" Everlue said as four more maids appeared, one uglier than another.

"Damn, I thought I saw everything… I could never imagine that such disgusting women may even exist…" Natsu whispered to himself.

After the lesser maids made some comments, big one tossed Lucy to the bushes. Natsu dashed that direction and managed to intercept poor blonde before she fell on the ground. Duke Everlue and his "maids" returned to the mansion.

"See – this is what I told you about. Client could not know that Everlue's sense of beauty even uglier than his so-called maids. This is why you always should have "Plan B" on standby" Natsu tried to distract crying Lucy from insult she just took.

"How the hell someone could call those… things beautiful!?" Lucy asked through tears, after such offence Lucy got rid of her maid uniform at first possibility.

"Yeah, they were ugly even for my tastes…" Sin admitted.

"Anyway Lucy, crying after being offended is not the way of Fairy Tail, get up" Natsu said as he grabbed her by the collar and placed her on feet. "You have to avenge your honor. Come on!"

"Yes! That foolish, fat, perverted bastard is going to pay for that he had done to me!" Exclaimed Lucy angrily as she stood beside Natsu. "So what's the plan then?"

"Sin, go ahead and take a look at this mansion from above – find a good infiltration point for us" Natsu commanded and little bone dragon soared into the air. "First we have to find the book. We'll decide what to do next according the situation…" God slayer said as he constantly looks around.

"What's wrong Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"I have a strange feeling as if we're being watched… But I can't see anyone…"

* * *

Duke of Everlue were sitting in a large chair smoking a cigar as three figures stood around him in shadows. He watched at Fairy Tail mages through surveillance lacrima; he had the camera's zoom in on Lucy's right palm and noticed her Fairy Tail mark on it.

"Mages came again in spite of the previous failure. And that mark, is it Fairy Tail this time? She was dumb enough not to hide it, but I wish they'd sand me someone more beautiful at least... Now, how should I kill mages this time? Boyoyoyo!" Everlue talked to himself. Looks like Natsu's sense did not failed him after all, they been watched…

* * *

"Are you sure we can sneak in from the roof?" Lucy asked as Sin lifted her onto the roof of the mansion, Natsu was already there, looking around.

"Look by yourself" Sin replied as he pointed at Natsu who already stood near opened window. Looks like he again used his telekinetic powers to open locks from outside.

"C'mon you two, we're entering from here. Upper floors usually less secure than lower ones." Natsu said as he helped Lucy to get over windowsill.

"Thanks" She said with the smile before looking around.

"Looks like it's some sort of storage room" Sin stated as he examined several skulls that lied on shelf.

"Looking for spare parts?" Natsu joked at bone dragon who paid too much attention to the skulls. "It seems nothing useful here, let's move out people."

"Where are we going?" Lucy asked.

"Well, despite this Everlue is a complete idiot I still think we should start to look for the book from the library." Natsu suggested as he opened the storage room's door slightly. "Now, I want you to keep an eye on anything suspicious people, there may be hidden surveillance lacrimas or even traps. Extreme caution." Natsu warned his teammates.

"Okay. I still think there is a chance to finish this mission without violence" Lucy noted.

"No promises" Natsu smirked "Besides, aren't you the one who said that he is going to pay for his words?

"Of course he will! In addition to burning the book I'll also hide his shoes and staff!" Lucy exclaimed with evil smile.

"That's… very pity…" Sin commented as Natsu made a face-palm.

"We'll just complete the mission without getting noticed. Doesn't it sounds cool? Just like a ninja." Lucy said as she leaned against the wall and slowly moved across it.

"Ninja? Sorry Lucy but I forgot my Sharingan at home…" Natsu joked as he met her idea without enthusiasm.

They were stopping at each door to take a quick peek inside to see if there were any books there. In one of the rooms Natsu noticed quite nice looking, little golden mirror, decorated with diamonds. Unlike most of Everue's stuff, this one was graceful. Natsu made sure Lucy does not look in his direction, took the mirror and hid it into his coat's internal pocket.

"It's started to get boring…" Natsu yawned "C'mon Sin, let's find someone and beat out the information from him." Crimson energy shrouded Natsu's fists.

"Nah… torturing people is boring" Sin waved Natsu off "Just blow up some walls so we could stop checking each door"

"Hmm… Okay" Natsu agreed and took a deep breath, preparing to use his magic **"Senjin no Do…"**

"NO!" Lucy dashed in front of Natsu, who managed to cancel his spell at the last moment.

"Are you insane?!" Natsu yelled at blonde. "You want to take a direct hit from my spell?!"

"No! I want you to be quiet!" She yelled back.

"We running out of time Lucy, I want to find that damn book now!"

Lucy tried to reply but suddenly she felt the ground shake a little before all five ugly maids from before burst out of the floor.

"Intruders detected!" The four smaller maids shouted, each holding house cleaning stuff as a weapons while the largest was bare-handed.

"Eliminate the targets!" The large maid told the others as they charged at the intruders.

"Looks like the ball comes to the player!" Natsu's eyes blazed with red light **"****Senjin no Dogō!"**

Flow of crimson energy produced a large explosion, sending lesser maids crushing into the floor across whole room. **"****Senjin no Saiken!**" Natsu landed his fist into gorilla-maid's abdomen, smashing her into the wall at the opposite side of the room. She made a breach in the wall as she crushed into it, revealing the room with long bookcases in it – library.

"Found it!" Natsu shouted with satisfied expression. "C'mon you two, let's go search for the book!" Natsu dashed to the hole in the wall and moved to the library, stepping on the unconscious gorilla-maid.

Sin followed right behind him while Lucy stood there and just stared at God slayer with wide eyes. "Are you just going to stand there?" Lil dragon asked.

Lucy snapped out of her shock as she heard Sin's words and ran after them. "Hey, wait for me!" She followed them into a room that indeed seems to be a library. "Did you knew that library is here or…"

"Nope, I just relied on fate – it's one of my mother's domains after all. I sent this maid flying into random direction and got lucky" Natsu gave her a wink as he walked over to one side of the room and started looking through the books. "Anyway, we should start looking."

Lucy couldn't understand how's it possible for one man to switch between cold logic and relying upon fate so fast. However, she knew that Natsu is right about one thing – the quicker they found the book the quicker they could get out of here. She went to the opposite side of the room and started to sort through books, while Sin was looking in the higher shelves.

"The Duke of Everlue looks stupid, but he has a good collection of books." Lucy commented as she examined one of the books from shelve. "If he reads all of these, I'll respect him a little bit." Natsu, however, has an opposite opinion.

"Damn, all of these books are sucks! Snotty novels, boring adventures, who the hell would want read this?!" Natsu said indignantly.

"What genres do you prefer?" Lucy asked with steady voice, despite Natsu just insulted her favorite genres – romantic and adventure novels.

"War history, magic science, legendary tales about gods, dragons and warriors…" Natsu shrugged as if it should be quite obvious. Lucy giggled at his answer – it seems, despite his powers and IQ, deep inside his soul this guy still a kid.

"Well, this explains a lot" Natsu said as he looked at huge section of hentai books. "However, may be some of them worth reading…" He added by whisper.

"Hey Natsu, take a look at this" Sin said as he flew to God slayer and dropped a book in golden cover into his arms.

"What's we have here?" Natsu said as he started to examine the book. He flipped through several pages before calling for stellar mage "Lucy, get here, we found it"

"Huh?" She turned to Natsu and saw the book in his hand. "Daybreak!" She exclaimed joyfully. "Nice job guys!" She mowed to Natsu to take a closer look at the book. "Why we are allowed to find it so easily?"

"I can't understand…" Natsu murmured "…this book is a mess. Even despite its genre, it's still awful. Why anyone would want to rid of it? Here, take a look" Natsu held out the book to Lucy.

"HUH? Natsu, look!" Lucy cried out as she quickly grabbed the book from Natsu's hands. "Th-this author… is Kemu Zaleon!"

"Never heard of him" Natsu said indifferently.

"He was a mage as well as a writer!" Lucy explained; her face became filled with rapture and stars shines around her as she raised the book into the air. "I'm a big fan of his! I thought I've read all of Kemu Zaleon's titles, does that mean this one is unpublished? Amazing!"

"Well, it's good that this one was never published – it's completely pathetic, as if it was written by a schoolboy." Natsu commented as Lucy started to flip through pages.

"Yeah… You right… but… so weird… It's can't be Kemu…" Lucy became very baffled.

"Whatever Lucy, let's save the honor of this Kemu of yours. Give me the book and I'll blast it" Natsu reached out his gloved left hand.

"Wait Natsu, we can't! Something wrong with this book, we can't just blow it up!" Lucy retorted, taking a few steps back.

"Who cares Lucy? We came here not for an investigation, give it to me" Natsu made a few steps toward her.

"But I can't leave it like this!" Lucy refused.

"Lucy, our guild's honor is at stake, as well as my own – I gave a word that today this book will cease to exist, and it will, along with you, if needed" Natsu exaggerated a bit. He was about to use his telekinetic power to tear out the book from Lucy's hands when he felt that someone is approaching.

"I see, I see… Boyoyoyoyoyo!" A voice called out as a figure came bursting out of the floor. "So that's what you guys were after" the figure is appeared to be the Duke of Everlue, with his idiotic smile on his face. "I was wondering what the mages were looking for so frantically" He said as he landed on floor and smirked at the three mages. "I'm glad to allow you guys to do whatever, I'm a genius boyoyo…" He has no chance to finish his introduction.

"**Senjin no Dogō!"** Crimson whirlwind collapsed right to the spot where Everlue was a moment ago, producing a powerful explosion and creating a huge hole in the floor. Looks like Natsu has no intentions to hear that old fool any further.

"You could at least hear me to the end!" Everlue yelled indignantly, few moments later he appeared from the wall near ceiling.

"**Senjin ****no Bakusō****!"** God slayer hurled a massive magic spear, composed of crimson energy, into the Everlue. Another blast shook entire mansion, creating a huge hole in the ceiling.

"It's useless, Everlue" Sin commented "He thought of you as of a worm, and heir of Morrigan will not speak with worms"

'_Sorry Natsu, but I can't leave it like this – I have to solve this mystery'_ Lucy thought to herself as she sat down on the floor and started to read the book.

"Those "other mages" you mentioned? You killed them, did not you? Yes, you protected your property, yet you had no rights to kill anyone. You are just a murderer" Sin talks as he and Natsu tried to locate Everlue.

"Bull shit! I won't tolerate this! How dare you to attack me inside my own house! Come forth, Vanish Brothers!" Everlue commanded with a snap of his fingers. Natsu turned his head to see two book shelves begin to move as a secret entrance opened and two figures appeared from it.

"It's finally time for business" lesser figure said.

"If we get paid without doing actual work mama will get mad at us" Taller one added.

Those two stepped out from shadows. "Good afternoon" Said lesser guy with long ponytail, he was dressed in white shirt and dark pants.

"These brats are the mages of Fairy Tail? Mama would be surprised, too" Added tall guy with stupid haircut, he wore a blue high-collar shirt and light-gray trousers.

"The Southern Wolves are always hungry for their next game. Prepare to die thieves, boyoyoyoyo." Everlue laughed.

"Well, it is the first time in my life when someone sends a clowns to amuse me during the fight" Natsu commented Vanish Brothers' appearance.

"How did you call us?! I'm gonna tell mama!" Taller brother yelled.

"Calm down, you gotta cool down!" Brother in white shirt said.

"This is…Can it be…" Lucy whispered to herself as she shivered a little. "Natsu, buy me some time okay? I have to dig to the middle of it." Lucy asked as she stood up. "This book seems to hold some kind of a secret, I have to find it!"

"Secret?" Natsu asked "All right Lucy, but its better be worth it! And find another place for reading, soon it will be too hot in here…" Natsu looked at his opponents with narrowed eyes. Everlue still hides inside the walls.

'_S-secret? I didn't notice when I read it. Might it be a treasure map or something?! I've gotta act quickly!'_ Everlue thought before he rushed to find Lucy. "Change of plan! Vanish brothers, obliterate the brat! I'll get her myself!" He commanded as his voice faded away.

"Sin, go after Lucy, insure her if needed and keep an eye on that book. I'll deal with these insects." Natsu commanded.

"Yes sir!" Sin saluted and rushed after Lucy.

"Now, what I was doing?" Natsu asked himself in false confusion "Ah, yes, I'm about to squish two bugs! You two made quite an appearance, now show me what you got!"

"He's totally making fun of us!" The taller one exclaimed, he became even angrier than before.

"Shall we put him in his place then?" The shorter one asked. "Do you know what a wizard's greatest weakness is?" He addressed to Natsu.

"Can't find a suitable girlfriend? Sorry, but it's no longer an issue for me." Natsu answered, but not before looking around to make sure no one of his friends could hear him.

"I-I don't really understand you… Is that something personal?" Shorter one asked.

"He's totally talking trash to us!" Taller one yelled.

"Their weakness is their bodies!" Brother in white shirt shouted as he charged to attack Natsu with the large frying pan but Natsu easily dodged by taking a step aside. The second brother jumped into the air and tried to grab Natsu by his coat, but failed as Natsu made another step aside.

"So you wanna fight without magic? Okay" Natsu smirked as beautiful katana glinted in his left hand.

(Fairy Tail OST - Tokihanatareshi Chikara)

"This brat really thinks he can beat us?!" The taller one angrily said.

"To train oneself in magic takes discipline of mental focus!" The shorter one started…

"And as a result you end up lacking of training of your body!" The taller one finished.

"May be it's time to stop talking and actually do something?" Natsu asked as he pointed Heavenly Blossom toward brothers.

"Brother, let's do the combination attack!" The taller one called out.

"Okay!" The shorter one replied. He moved the frying pan out in front of him and the taller one jumped on it and prepared for attack.

"**Saigo no Idō: ****Tenchi Shōmetsu Satsubou!" **The Vanish Brothers called out. "No one has ever experienced this attack and survived."

"Bring it, bugs!" Natsu taunted them.

He watched as the shorter brother sent the taller on into the air with an upward swing;

"Face toward heaven and… …earth is where we be!" The shorter one shouted as he tried to slam his pan against Natsu. The frying pan clashed with Heavenly Blossom and was shattered to pieces as Natsu hit the brother in white shirt into the abdomen by his right fist with full force, smashing him into opposite wall.

"Face the earth and… …heaven is where we will be!" The taller one yelled as he dived at Natsu from above with his fists in front of him. Natsu made an extremely fast swing by Heavenly Blossom, creating a high pressure front. Brother in blue shirt clashed with it and lost all of his speed, he just fell on the floor, only to meet with Natsu's leg by his face. By powerful leg kick Natsu sent taller brother crashing into the shorter one.

"Impossible! Are you really a mage?" Shorter brother yelled as taller held his broken nose.

"I'm not just a mage, I'm a mage of Fairy Tail" Natsu said with proud. "Guys, do you remember that I said I will not use magic against you? Well, I lied" Natsu smirked **"****Senjin ****no Bakusō****!" **God slayer hurled another massive magic spear, into the brothers who had no chance to at least stand up. Spear landed a direct hit, destroying part of the wall and knocking mercenaries out. Natsu made a deep breath to consume unreleased aggression from brothers.

(End Song)

"**Raito Bīmu!"** Suddenly beam of light magic landed a direct hit on Natsu. God slayer was caught off-guard and sent crashing to the remains of the wall between library and lobby. Wall crumbled and Natsu fell on the lobby's floor.

Enraged, God slayer instantly jumped on feet. "WHO DARED?!" He yelled, his whole body glowed with crimson light.

"Proud as ever" woman's voice said, few moments later its owner appeared on the second floor's balcony. It appeared to be a young woman (about two years older than Natsu) with slender body, large breasts and cute face, long raven-black hairs and large green eyes. She was dressed in dark blue t-shirt, short black skirt and beige sandals on her feet.

"Okay, now I'm giving you a chance to ease your soul before I'll reduce you to pulp. Tell me who the hell are you and what are you doing here? You seems too normal for an employee of that fool." Natsu asked as he examined the girl.

"He just hired me as a bodyguard, it's just a job. He's disgusting and calls me ugly, but payment is well, and I'm still in need of money, thanks to you, Natsu Dragneel" Girl explained.

Now Natsu become confused "Thanks to me?! I never seen you before!"

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Daikai no Jubia)

"Wrong, Dragneel. Don't you remember? Year 781, March 28. You attacked me, we had fight and I lost. And you took all my money as a "punishment". Back then my father was seriously ill, to continue to pay for his treatment I had no choice but to made a loan and I'm still paying my debts. You can't imagine how much anger I felt each time when I saw your name in the magazine… And you can't imagine how much joy I felt when I saw you through lacryma. I had no doubts that those two idiots are no match for you. At last I got my chance for vengeance!"

Natsu listened to her speech silently, Year 781, March 28 – about two months before Natsu joined Fairy Tail. It was not the first time when shadows of shameful deeds of his past reached him, but each time it was equally unpleasant. "I have nothing to say to you…" God slayer looked at her "…if rematch with me will make you feel easier – I'm at your service, but don't expect me to hold back"

"Oh it's better for you to not to hold back! Time to die, dirty robber! **Raito Sufia!**" She cast a spell as she jumped from the balcony. Large and extremely bright sphere of pure light flew toward Natsu

"Let battle rejoices! **Senjin ****no Bakusō****!"** Natsu hurled his crimson spear to counter girl's magic. Spells clashed, producing bright flash and powerful shockwave that sundered whole lobby. "So it's okay for you to break your employer's house?" Natsu asked with smirk.

"I don't care – he's even more disgusting criminal scum than you! **Iryūjon Raito!**" About dozen of tentacles, composed of light, appeared from magic seal and moved to attack Natsu. **"****Senjin no Dogō!"** Natsu's breath clashed with girl's magic and destroyed all of the tentacles, producing a powerful blast and eliciting a dense dust cloud. Using his ability to sense human souls Natsu found the girl through dust and dashed to her location **"****Senjin no Saiken!**" Natsu dealt a crushing blow right into girl's chest and smashed her into the floor. However, she was not finished yet **"Fainaru Supāku!"**

Natsu did not expected that she will recover so fast after his blow and got a direct hit from broad laser-like beam. Girl stood up and sent another spell into Natsu **"Reinbō Sutoraiku!"** This time Natsu was prepared **"****Senjin no Sōken!"** Natsu's long twin blades clashed with ray of rainbow's light and another shockwave shook entire mansion, knocking girl down.

"Not bad" Natsu admitted, he actually was worn out slightly. "I'm actually broke a sweat. But I'm running out of time… Girlie, I have no desire to hurt you anymore, please – give up"

"Never!" Yelled girl as an answer. She took lots of damage and breathed heavily, but still stood up. "Let's finish it!" She prepared to cast another spell.

Natsu chuckled "I like you, I'm really are… too bad it have to end this way…" He raised his arms to the skies…

"**Fainaru Supāku****!"**

"**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!****"**

(End of Song)

* * *

*Few minutes earlier*

Lucy was sitting on a path in the sewers, using her **Kazeyomi no Megane** to read the book, her whole body shivered from the things she just had read. At last she finished and closed the book, removing her glasses. "Fuuu…" She took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"I… I wouldn't have imagined that it had… such a secret… I can't let this book be destroyed… I have to deliver it to Kaby-san…" Lucy murmured to herself as she stood up.

"Boyoyoyo… Carrying around the wind reading glasses… You really are a great reader, aren't you?" Everlue shouted as his arms came out from the wall. Before Lucy could react he grabbed her wrists in a tight grip. Lucy's keys fell off from shock as Everlue's face popped out of the wall.

"Ouch!" Lucy screamed from pain.

"Now, do tell. What did you find? What is the secret of the book?" Everlue asked with very stupid but insolent grin.

"Y-you are pathetic! You are the enemy of literature!" Lucy defied, trying to ignore the pain coming from her wrist.

"An enemy of literature?! And you're saying that to me, a great and highly educated man?" Everlue shouted while he tightened his grip on Lucy's wrist, trying to get her to let go of the book.

"How can a guy who have a bunch of weird maids be highly educated?!" Lucy stated as she continued her unsuccessful attempts to break away from Everlue's grip "Ouch!"

"Don't insult my beautiful blond maids!" Everlue bellowed as his grip got even tighter and created more pain in Lucy's wrists.

"What secret does the book have? Is it a treasure map? A hidden fortune?! Say it! If you don't say it I'll break your arms!" Everlue threatened.

Lucy desperately looked at her keys, only to make sure she is unable to reach them right now. Powerless to do anything else Lucy stuck out her tongue at him and elicited a childish "Bweeee" sound"

This gesture pissed Everlue off "Behave yourself, brat! That is my book!" He yelled. "I made Kemu Zaleon write it! So the secret of the book is mine, too!" Everlue stated angrily.

Lucy gritted her teeth from pain as she felt that Everlue's grip get even tighter, but then she suddenly felt wave of cold and by the corner of her eye she noticed a bolt of dark blue magic that hit Everlue's face.

"What the!…" Everlue yelled as he clutched his face, releasing Lucy's arms.

Lucy jumped away from the wall and turned around, she noticed little bone dragon in several meters away from her. "Sin!" Lucy exclaimed as she grabbed her keys from floor.

Sin waved to her by his little bone claw and commented "Don't think of me as of flying puppy, I knew some magical tricks too"

"Nice, you are so cool!" Lucy exclaimed with smile as Sin landed on water surface, creating little round ice floe beneath him. Lucy remembered as he done the same after carrying her off Bora's ship.

"What the heck is this creature?" Everlue questioned as he stared at Sin.

"My name is Sin" Lil dragon answered "And I'm here to help Lucy while Natsu one by one obliterates your servants, along with your mansion"

"Looks like tables have turned, huh? If you give me this book I may forgive you, though I want to hit you at last once" Lucy said with a bold smile as she pointed one of her gold keys toward Everlue.

"Ah ha! You are **Seirei Madōshi**, huh? Boyoyoyo!" Everlue said as an evil grin came to his face. "You're a fun of literature, yet you're using that phrase incorrectly. You should say "The tables have turned" only when your position has turned from a disadvantage to an advantage.

"Anyhow, you won't be able to surpass my **Tsuchi Mahō:**** Daibā** just because you have some weird thing on your side, boyoyoyoyo!" A magic seal appeared on Everlue's back and he sank into the ground.

"So, it was a magic… it is true then, Everlue is a mage, too!" Lucy exclaimed as she looked at old pervert as he dived into the floor.

"What was true?" Sin asked.

"It was written in this book!" Lucy started dodging Everlue's attacks as he burst out from the ground at random points. She flipped and jumped as he tried to strike her down. "This is an awful adventure novel with Duke of Everlue as a main character." Lucy exclaimed angrily.

"Really? What a fool would want to write a novel about such an idiot?" Sin asked.

"Exactly! This is why I get suspicious about this book in the first place!" Lucy agreed.

"It's wonderful that I'm the main character, but its contents are crap! Everlue shouted as he continued his attempts to catch Lucy. "He is Kemu Zaleon and yet he wrote such a piece of crap! Outrageous!"

"You forced him to write it! How can you act so high and mighty!" Lucy retorted as she avoided another Everlue's attack.

"I am high and mighty! It should be an honor for him to write a book about me!" Everlue stated as he appeared from the ceiling.

"You threatened him to write it!" Lucy growled angrily.

"Threatened? How?" Sin wondered.

"So what?" Everlue asked as he popped out of the wall next to Lucy, curling his moustache. "It's his own fault for refusing me in the first place!" old pervert replied.

"Aha…" Lucy yawned, by her whole appearance she expresses contempt to this man.

"I allowed him to write a book with my high and mighty self as the main character, but that idiot dared to reject the offer!" Everlue explained, as he seemed to swim across the floor and walls. "That's why I told him that if he wouldn't write it I'd withdraw the citizenship of all his relatives!" Everlue boasted.

"Withdraw their citizenship? If that happens you can't join merchant or workmen guild" Sin explained "This is what Natsu told you about – in cities like that even such worms like this one can have almost absolute authority"

"I know, and now I'm about to agree with him. I knew that some parts of the land still run under feudalism, but I didn't imagine that everything is so bad" Lucy said.

"In the end he gave in and wrote it!" Everlue shouted victoriously as he popped out right beneath Lucy and caught her leg. "But the fact that he rejected me once got me angry, so I made him write it in the solitary cell! Boyoyoyoyo! I crushed his pride as a distinguished writer!" Everlue joyfully remembered this moment.

"How you can go that far just to get what you want? Can you imagine how he felt, being in that solitary cell for three years?!" Lucy asked angrily as she managed to release her leg from Duke's grip

"Three years?" Sin asked "He spent three years for one book? He worked quite responsibly…"

"He realized my greatness!" Everlue let out a creepy laugh as he swims along the floor on his back.

"Not a chance!" Lucy exclaimed. "It was a fight with his own pride! If he hadn't written it, his family would've been in danger! But writing a book about a big idiot like you… A writer's pride wouldn't allow such a thing to happen!" Lucy yelled at Everlue.

"You… how do you know so many details? Everlue asked.

"It's all written in this book!" Lucy said, holding up the book up in front of her.

"Huh? I've read that book, but Kemu Zaleon never appeared in there!" Duke was quite surprised.

"Of course, it's just an awfully disappointing story for the fans if you read this in a normal way. But you should know about it, right? Kemu Zaleon started off as a mage" Lucy explained.

"What?... No way!" Everlue exclaimed angrily, looks like he started to understand something.

"He used his last power to cast magic onto this book!" Lucy finished explanation.

"Did he make it so that sentences of his grudge would show up after releasing the magic? Unforgivable!" Duke yelled as he angrily stared at the book in Lucy's hands.

"You mind is so shallow… true, it does have the process of completing the book written in it. But that is not what Kemu Zaleon wanted to leave behind in this book. The real truth is something else!" Lucy said as she avoided another bunch of Everlue's attacks.

"You love to speak in riddles, don't you?" Sin commented Lucy's speech.

"What? True secret?!" Everlue questioned in confusion.

"That's why I won't give this book to you! You don't have a right to posses it! **Open, Gate of the Giant Crab - ****Kyansā****!**" Lucy waved a hand with gold key in it, drawing a magic seal. Few moments later magic seal elicited a large smoke cloud, with figure of a man, shrouded in it.

"And after that they call me weird?" Sin commented as cloud dissolved, revealing stellar spirit. He looked like a man who was wearing a blue long-sleeve shirt and black leather pants with a chain on his right leg. There were six red crab legs extending from his back, and two antennas on his head above his red cornrows hairstyle. He had two large pairs of scissors rested with handles that resembled claws in each hand.

Suddenly entire mansion (sewers included) was shaken by powerful explosion from upstairs.

"What the hell?!" Everlue yelled "That damn ugly girl should protect my house, rather than helping in its destruction!"

"Lucy… what kind of hairstyle would you like today-ebi?" Cancer asked, preparing a razor.

"Can't you see what's going on right now!" Lucy was freaked out by spirit's question "It's a battle! Finish that moustache guy off!"

"Okay-ebi!" Cancer replied as he got into a battle position.

'_Another secret? There's still something else? Could he have written about the illegal nature of my busyness? Crap! If the book is passed onto a mage inspector from the council… I'M DOOMED!_' Duke thought in panic "NUOOOH!"

Everlue quickly reached into his jacket and pulled out a gold key. "**Open, Gate of the Maiden – ****Barugo****!**"

"Eh?" Lucy gulped in surprise as she saw her own magic.

The same gorilla-maid, that Natsu knocked out earlier, burst out of the magical seal on the ground. "How may I help you, my master?" She asked with chest voice.

"Virgo, retrieve that book at once!" Everlue ordered.

"She's… she is a Celestial Spirit!?" A shocked Lucy asked.

"Ebi" Cancer nodded.

"Everlue, you still did not understood that resistance is useless?" Sin asked as another blast shook entire building.

"What the hell is going on up there?!" Everlue asked angrily.

Suddenly, Sin soared in the air and dashed to Lucy. "Lucy! Jump into the water! Now!"

"What?! This is sewer's water! No way I'm going there!" Lucy protested.

"Shut up and jump!" Sin shouted as he pushed blonde into the water and followed her. Copying actions of his mistress Cancer jumped into water as well.

"What the hell!" Lucy yelled but Sin grabbed her and forced underwater.

"Get down blonde!" Lil dragon felt Natsu's magic even from sewers and understood that he is going to unleash a holy load of it.

* * *

"**Fainaru Supāku****!"**

"**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!****"**

Natsu created a huge missile, composed of twisting crimson energy, and hurled it into his opponent. Missile clashed with laser-like beam of girl's spell and easily overpowered it. Within a fraction of a second it landed a direct hit to the girl. Immensely powerful explosion obliterated entire mansion, replacing it by large crater and huge mushroom cloud…

"I'm sorry…" Natsu said mournfully as he came closer to the girl's body. She was lying defeated and barely alive. He picked her up on his shoulder and looked around – there was no sign that here once stood a mansion, only the lower part of the basement and sewers remains. "Damn, now I'm really overdid it…"

* * *

Lucy emerged from the water and immediately fell into deep shock. Just a few moments ago she was in underground sewers, but now she is outdoor. "What happened?" She asked as she stared at the blue skies, she was in some sort of trance.

Slowly she got out from the water and looked around. Sewer's ceiling was no more, walls' remains were about one meter in height.

"Natsu happened" Sin answered simply as he emerged from the water.

Everlue's body was lying nearby, looks like he was caught by explosion and knocked out completely, as well as Virgo.

"Lucy, are you all right?" Sin asked as stellar mage senselessly stared in space, she was filled with strange feeling of unreality of what just happened.

"Hey Lucy, Sin. Any success with the book?" Natsu's voice called out.

Lucy snapped out of her trance as she heard his voice and turned thitherwards, still pressing the book to her chest. "Natsu? Did you destroyed the mansion?" Lucy asked with a bit widened eyes.

"Yeah, I was slightly carried away" Natsu admitted.

"See you-ebi" Cancer said as he disappeared.

"Natsu, who is this?" Sin asked, pointing at the girl on God slayer's shoulder.

"One of my old acquaintances" Natsu answered casually. "She was one of Everlue bodyguards. Talk about it later, c'mon you two, let's get out of here until military showed up"

* * *

"You've done an extravagant job, Lucy, for real – I did not noticed that book is enchanted" Natsu praised Lucy after she and Sin told him about Kemu.

"I didn't felt any magic in it, too. However, it has terrible grammar and development, so there's no way I'd believe that Kemu Zaleon wrote this!" Lucy explained her reasons. "That's why I thought that there was a secret, in this book!"

"Looks like that guy was a good writer. However, I still think that turning from mage into writer is a waste of talent – it is much better to do thing rather than write about them" He added, causing Lucy to sigh a little.

They now walked along the river toward the mansion that Melon's borrowed. Natsu felt that girl on his shoulder moved a little, looks like she is about to regain consciousness. "Now guys, I want to speak with her a little, and I suggest you two to go swim in the river a bit, this smell is just awful" Natsu gave Lucy a wink.

"Oh!" Lucy yelped as her cheeks blushed slightly. She was still in light shock, also it seems she accustomed to the smell, so she forgot that they swimmed in sewer's water. "Among other things, we ended up in sewers thanks to your thirst for annihilation!" Stellar mage stated angrily as magical bone dragon lift her in the air and carried toward river.

Natsu sat the girl under large tree, leaning her back to the trunk. About one minute later she opened her eyes. Slowly she looked around, trying to understand where is she.

"Is that hurt much?" Natsu asked her softly.

"How do you think?" She answered by question, her voice was too weak to identify her emotion.

"I don't know, but I hope that hurt like hell, I'm pretty proud of my work" Natsu smirked.

Girl chuckled and her face distorted from pain "Ouch… it IS hurt like hell…" She moved her leg a bit. "Why didn't you finished me off? I'm no match for you, not even close" Girl asked.

"Oh, c'mon, you are not that stupid to ask such a questions. Killing young cute girls is the last thing in my "Wish-to-do" list." Natsu looked in her eyes "What's your name?"

Girl hesitated for a few seconds but then she decided that there is nothing wrong in telling him "Celia"

"Celia… your name is cute, too. Somehow it make me think about sea…" Natsu smiled. "You know, some people have an extremely keen hearing or sense of smell… Well, I don't have any of it. Instead I possess an ability to distinguish human's souls, to see their true nature. This is why I was so surprised to see you among Everlue's lackeys."

"Three days ago I heard about him in the local tavern, someone said that Duke of Everlue decided to tighten security. So I came to him, seeking for job. He said I'm ugly and those two idiots constantly insulted me, yet I got the job and payment was good" Celia explained.

"Three days… As I thought – you have nothing to do with killing previous group of mages, which tried to steal the book."

She nodded a little "As you said – killing people is the last thing in my "Wish-to-do" list"

"Don't worry, no one will find you here, and Everlue's words will be meaningless… Celia, perhaps I'm the last man in Fiore for whom you would want to tell this, but… your father, was he been cured?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, though he is still recovering, so he is unable to work… Why am I telling you all of this?" She asked herself.

"May be because I'm the only one who's willing to listen?" Natsu asked with smile as he picked the checkbook and gold pen from his internal pocked.

"I don't need your pity!" Celia said as she figured out his intentions.

"Pity? I have no such feeling in my possession" Natsu answered, signing a check. "But I'm always pay my debts. Three years ago I took 220 000 jewels from you, and now I'm paying you back with some additional interest." Natsu stated, he signed a check for 350 000. Celia was still unable to move her arms so Natsu put a check into her skirt's pocket. "Decision about what to do with it is up to you. I can see that you are still very angry at me, but you don't hate me, so I think you will do the right choice."

Celia did not answered, she just looked at his actions, before asking "You think I'm cute?"

Nutsu was surprised a little by her question "Yes, it's quite obvious. Why did you asking?"

"Because three years ago you insulted my looks many times" She answered with narrowed eyes.

"Um… yeah, sorry about that, too…" Natsu stuttered "I tried to enrage you so you could provide better challenge…"

Natsu turned toward river "I have to go, my friends is waiting. One more thing Celia – find yourself a guild. Being a freelancer mage has some advantages, too but… it's not worth it, trust me… You can improve your magic faster in the atmosphere of friendly rivalry. And you always can find someone who will listen your story, we all have a stories, are not we?" Natsu said as he waved his goodbye. God slayer couldn't see it, but she smiled a little…

* * *

"But how about your word? You promised to destroy the book" Lucy asked as they were on approach to the mansion where Kaby and his wife were.

"My word will be fine. If you right - I will fulfill my promise because the book "Daybreak" will cease to exist. If not - you will cease to exist instead" Natsu shrugged as Lucy gulped a little.

"Natsu, how much time I should told you that death threats is unsuitable for jokes?" Sin scolded Natsu. Magical bone dragon sat on Lucy's shoulder, looks like he became attached to her a little…

Few minutes later three were inside the mansion.

"You're back? Already?" Kaby asked hopefully. "Your mission was successful?"

"Yep, even more than we could hope" Natsu answered "Lucy, go ahead, it's your success"

Lucy made a step forward and handed the book to Mr. Melon.

"Wh-what are you doing? If I remember correctly, I asked you to destroy it" Kaby said as he stared at the book.

"It's not that hard to destroy. You can do it yourself, Kaby-san." Lucy noted.

"Then I'll incinerate it!" Mr. Melon roughly snatched the book from Lucy's hands "I don't even… want to look at it!"

"I understand why you cannot tolerate the existence of this book. It's to protect your father's pride, you are the son of Kemu Zaleon, aren't you?" Lucy explained, shocking Kaby and his wife.

"Told you – she too can put two and two together. Never underestimate blonde…" Natsu whispered to Sin.

"H-how… do you know…?" Kaby stuttered

"Have you ever read this book?" Lucy asked.

"No… I've heard of it from my father, but never read it…" Kaby admitted. "But it'd be a waste of time to read it. My father told me that… This book is a piece of trash…"

"Don't you ever wanted to know why he thinks so?" Natsu asked. "My mother always explained me everything" He added.

"Your father did not explained anything, did he?" Lucy asked.

"Yes… my father was greatly ashamed to have written "Daybreak" Kaby started his tale. "31 years ago my father came home after being gone for three years. Without even saying "hello" or explaining anything he took a meat axe and cut off his right arm" Lucy gulped after these words. Kaby continued "After that I went to meet him in hospital. I yelled at him, spat many insults about his pride and capability of being a father. I was extremely angry at him. Soon after my visit father committed a suicide." Natsu noticed an eyewater in Lucy's eyes as she listened to the story. "I hated him even after he passed away. I hated him also for the fact that he was too weak to stand up for himself. But as time passed by, I came to regret the words I spoke that day… Maybe if I hadn't said such terrible things, he wouldn't have committed suicide" Kaby finished his tale.

"Now that story _was_ a waste of time…" Sin whispered to Natsu.

"That's why I wanted to eliminate this piece of trash from the world… Only with this atonement he can regain his pride as a writer. Now, my father's will…" Mr. Melon said as he lit a match and moved it closer to the book.

"You wrong" Lucy said simply as book suddenly started to glow.

"What is this?!" Kaby asked, he released the book from hands as letters started to hop up.

"Zukea Melon, under the alias of Kemu Zaleon, casted a spell onto this book" Lucy explained.

"Spell?" Kaby wondered as Natsu and Sin silently watched the light show. The title on the cover of the book began to rearrange itself and soon revealed itself as "Dear Kaby" by Zukea Melon.

"Dear Kaby?" Kaby read as he saw the title of the book.

"Yes, he casted a spell that shuffled the characters in the book, including the contents and everything else." As Lucy explained, all the letters in the book shot out and started to rearrange themselves, circling around and filling room with light.

"The reason he quit being a writer… was not only because he wrote the worst book in existence, but probably because he also wrote the best book in existence. The best book, which contains letter to you, Kaby-san" Lucy said as letters continued to dance across the room.

As the book's glow faded away it fell into Kaby's hands. He remembered the last thing his father said: _'You. You were always on my mind'_

"That is what Kemu Zaleon truly wanted to leave behind" Lucy smiled as Natsu clapped her shoulder as approval.

"Dad… I never… really… understood him…" Kaby cried as he looked through the pages.

"Of course! If you understand how a writer's mind works you'll lose all the pleasure in reading a book!" Lucy stated with satisfied smile, making Natsu to smirk at her.

"Thank you… I can't burn this book…" Kaby said as he hugged the book closer to his chest.

"Mr. Melon" Natsu called for him "Two more things before we will talk about reward. First – I have something for you, too. May be my gift is much more down-to-earth, but still…" Natsu stated as he handed some paper to the Mr. Melon. "The fee for your father's work. 1 300 000 for writing a book "Daybreak"… oh wait!" Natsu pointed his finger at the paper and word "Daybreak" transformed itself into "Dear Kaby" "That's' better. Despite you giving us your life savings, you still can expand your business."

"Where did you get it?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"I'll leave it for a secret for now" Natsu winked to her, making Lucy to growl in frustration.

"I… I do not know what to say… I… how may I thank you for it?" Kaby stuttered.

"Easily. Tomorrow ERA's inspector will show up – let him take a look at this book. As well as letter it also contains the proofs about Everlue's criminal activity. It will be enough to put him into the cell for a long time, and no one will ask our guild for compensation for destroyed mansion – law do not protect criminals."

"Ok… Okay, gladly" Kaby agreed, he feels no sympathy toward Duke either.

"Very well then, now about reward…"

* * *

Year 784, July 5th, 7:35 PM, on the road to Magnolia.

Lucy, Natsu and Sin were on their way back to magnolia in an open carriage.

"Lucy, I know it's not of my business, but I want to remind you that one million jewels is much but not too much, try to not to spend all of the money for one day" Natsu commented as he observed Lucy's daydreaming.

"What?! Of course I won't!" Lucy exclaimed indignantly, despite the fact that mentally she wandered across all of the Magnolia's shops. "You think I do not know the value of money?"

"Oh, I'm sure you do. Despite that you had grown in very rich family I may assume that you are not spoiled by money" Natsu answered.

Lucy gulped at his statement "Wh… Why do you think that I had grown in very rich family?" Her voice sounded a bit nervously.

"I'm not think, I'm sure you are from rich family" Natsu stated. "You see, people usually disclose themselves by insignificant things. You do not attach any importance to this, but your speech, your gestures, your gait, even your smile – all of it almost yells that you was surrounded by large amount of teachers and trainers, which was hired to make of you a Lady, not a mage" Natsu explained.

Lucy released a deep sigh "Natsu, may I ask you not to discuss it with anyone else? I doubt there are many people who could notice all of it like you did, I do not want to discuss my past with everyone..."

Natsu nodded "Of course, your reasons are your own. As I said – I have an ability to distinguish souls, I can see that you are kind and honest person and that's more than enough for me. However, do not hesitate if you will need some help or advice…" Natsu looked into her eyes and added "…ironically, Fairy Tail's strongest mages are orphans, one way or another."

Lucy shook her head "Your observation skill is incredible…"

"Yours are not bad either. You uncovered book's secret, found out about writer's son... By the way, it seems like you really a big Fan of that Kemu Zaleon." Natsu noted.

"Yeah, it seems like he was in mage guild when he was young. He wrote stories about the adventures he experienced back then. I yearn for him…" Lucy smiled to herself.

"Just as I thought" Natsu winked to her.

"Hmm?" Lucy looked at him in confuse.

"Those manuscripts that you were tried to hide from me… It's the story you wrote. I noticed familiar manner of speech" Natsu chuckled a little.

"No wonder you are so familiar with books" Sin added as Lucy's face stared to turn red.

"Can you… Can you guys hold this information to yourself as well?!" Lucy screamed as she covered her face with her hands, it seems she was deprived of all of her secrets.

"Why? Why you want to hide this too?" Natsu asked with slight annoyance from her irrationality.

"I'm… I'm not good at it yet! It's embarrassing if someone reads it!" She whined.

"Okay…" Natsu agreed, making a face-palm. "By the way, I hope writing will remain only a hobby for you. As I told you earlier – writing about adventures instead of participating in it – it's a waste of talent for a mage…"

* * *

Year 784, July 5th, 8:30 PM, Magnolia Town.

"Okay, see you tomorrow Lucy, good night." Natsu waved to her as she headed toward her house. Natsu and Sin went to guildhall to report about their mission.

"Mira! We're back!" Shouted Natsu as he entered guild hall.

"Natsu!" blue-eyed girl smiled to him and let out a sigh of release "Is everyone okay? How was the mission?"

"Complete success. Good guys are happy, bad guys were punished and I earned one million jewels, that mean I won a bet" Natsu reported as he showed the request list with client's signature.

"Congratulations, Natsu!" Mirajane said as she opened the mission log and made a record. "How's Lucy?"

"She did better than I expected" Natsu admitted "She won't be at loss"

"Looks like you was impressed" Mira smiled.

"Not really, it's just a fact" Nustu shrugged "Okay, I should get going, see you tomorrow"

"Until then!" Mira waved her goodbye.

* * *

Year 784, July 6th, 10:40 AM, Fairy Tail guildhall.

"Good morning guys!" Lucy waved at Natsu and Sin, which were stood outside guildhall's entrance.

"Hi Lucy" Natsu answered as Sin nodded to blonde "I thought you were about to do some shopping"

"I am, just wanted to say "hello" to the guild. Going for another mission you two?" Lucy asked.

"Not a chance! He won his bet, so today will be a day off…" Sin stated as something caught his attention "…or not"

All three of them heard some strange sound, which was like approaching heavy footsteps. Natsu listened to the sound for a second before turning toward its source "She's just in time... to celebrate my victory" His eyes erupted crimson light.

"Eh? Who are you talking about? What's making that sound?" Lucy asked as she turned toward footsteps, trying to distinguish who or what are causing them.

"Lucy, you are about to meet with Fairy Tail's largest pain in the ass, prepare yourself" Natsu said. "C'mon, let's go inside the hall" He added and headed to the guild doors.

Lucy followed him, but before she entered to the building she noticed a female figure which appeared to be carrying something huge by one hand above her head. Woman still was too far to distinguish the details of her face, but she definitely has slender figure and lush breasts. But the most noticeable detail about this girl were her long, beautiful scarlet hairs.

* * *

_Spell List:_

**Seirei**** Madōshi** – Stellar spirit mage

**Saigo no Idō: ****Tenchi Shōmetsu Satsubou** – Last move: Heaven and Earth Extinct Slaying Attack

**Raito Bīmu** – Light Beam

**Raito Sufia** – Light Sphere

**Iryūjon Raito** – Illusion Light

**Fainaru Supāku** – Final Spark

**Reinbō Sutoraiku** – Rainbow Strike

**Tsuchi Mahō:**** Daibā** – Earth magic: Diver

**Kazeyomi no Megane** – Gale-Force Reading Glasses (Gale means "wind")

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

******Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin ****no Bakusō** –War God's Explosive Spear

**Senjin no Sōken** –War God's Twin Blades

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath

* * *

_And it's done! Oh, man – 15000 words… Longest chapter I had ever written, but I really wanted to move to the Lullaby (Eisenwald) arc ASAP._

_Read and please __**REVIEW**__ people, see you in the next chapter – __**Damned and Denied.**_


	4. The bet, illusions and train

Okay people, here is the new chapter. This update took longer because I got sick, yet I managed to do it!

Thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really love to read it.

Some answers:

To treeofsakuras – Mira is not in love with Natsu, her feelings just a bit messy. I really like this girl too and I won't let her heart to be broken =)

To Anaklusmos863 – Sorry man but things are not what they seem, you'll see =)

To abhishekunnikm – Natsu is immune to alcohol, ErzaXNatsu fight chapter will be after Eisenwald ark, in form of flashback with some additions. You'll see. Also Sin has some secret, too.

To Fangking2 – Actually Natsu's new personality is some kind of fusion of original Natsu, Dante from DMC and me =)

Everyone else – many thanks people, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

**Chapter IV – The bet, illusions and train.**

…

Without saying anything Natsu went to the closest unoccupied table and sat down at it. Lucy tried to join him but Sin descended before her, blocking the way. The blonde looked at Lil dragon questioningly as he landed on her shoulder and whispered, "Don't Lucy, it's not safe here. Go to the counter and join Mira."

"Not safe, why?" Lucy sounded surprised.

"You'll see for yourself in a few moments, just go," Sin insisted and Lucy decided to do as he said. She was half-way to the counter when someone else slammed into entrance.

"Bankai! We got trouble!" Everyone stared at the panicked Loki, who stood in the doorway. Once he had caught his breath he added, "It's Erza, she's back." Almost everyone froze after he said that, though they quickly followed suit and fell into a panic as well.

"And here we go again…" Mira murmured as Lucy sat down at one of the chairs near counter.

"L-Loki, are you s-sure it was Erza?" someone asked fearfully.

"Of course I'm sure!" Loki shouted back "How I could be mistaken?"

"Natsu! Please, hold yourself, don't make her mad!" another mage addressed Natsu.

"Sorry guys, no promises, it's been a while…" Natsu answered with an evil grin, throwing everyone into an even more intense state of panic.

"What's this about?" Lucy asked.

"Well, we all have some things that we prefer against the other. Natsu is no exception. His favorite occupation is battle, his favorite thing is money and his favorite hobby is playing on Erza's nerves," Sin explained.

"Usually he drives her mad and then leaves so she vents her spleen on the others because she can't beat him up," Mirajane added.

As she finished they could hear heavy footstep coming towards the guild.

"It's Erza…" Loki murmured, his expression disclosing his nervous disposition.

"No mistake – that's her footsteps," Wakaba whispered, biting down on his smoke pipe.

"Now, come, face your defeat…" Natsu said with his eyes set in a predatory glare.

"With that kind of reaction, Erza-san really must be an amazing wizard," Lucy thought aloud.

Everyone watched in fear as Erza walked through the door. She was carrying a giant horn which was covered in cheap jewels and other gaudy baubles, in Natsu's opinion. When the knight-mage made it to the center of the guildhall she put the horn down, making the entire building shake with its weight.

"I have returned… Is master here?" the scarlet haired girl asked as Lucy examined her. At least one thing was clear – her beauty is magnificent. "She is very pretty…" Lucy murmured.

"Welcome back. Master is attending the regular meeting," Mirajane answered with her usual welcoming smile.

"I see," Erza replied.

"Erza-san, what is this humongous thing?" a man with sandy-yellow hair asked from next to the horn. As far as Natsu could remember – his name was Max.

"Why does it seem like everyone is trying to draw her attention as far away from Natsu as possible?" Lucy asked.

"Because they are." Sin smirked. "Useless…"

"Hmm? This? The local townspeople decorated the horn of the demon that I subdued… It was so pretty that I brought it back as a souvenir," Erza answered with a thankful smile as she remembered it. "Will it be a nuisance?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, not at all!" Max and a few others mages replied instantly.

"The horn of the demon that she subdued," murmured one of the mage.

"Whoa…" another mused.

"Macao, do you think she knows about the incident on Hacobe Mountain?" Cana whispered to the mage in white coat, who started to sweat all over after he heard her question.

"Crap… I'm dead meat…" Macao murmured to himself.

"She is quite different than what I'd imagined," Lucy whispered, extremely surprised at how quiet everyone had been since Erza entered the building. "What is with everyone?" she addressed Sin again.

"You're about to see in a few moments," the little boney creature answered, making Lucy even more curious. The whole time that she was with Natsu he never even mentioned Erza's name.

"All of you!" Erza narrowed her eyes as she shifted her gaze to everyone in the building, causing them to stand as still as stone statues. "I heard a bunch of rumors while I was on my mission, it seems you've been causing troubles again. Even if master forgave you, I won't!" she said with a stern voice, making everyone shrink back.

"Here it comes…" Sin grumbled as the knight-mage turned to Cana, who was quietly drinking right out of a barrel, as usual.

"Cana," the brunette choked and even lowered the barrel at Erza's voice, "how can you continue to drink in such an undignified manner? Sit down appropriately, now!" the knight-mage commanded, forcing Cana to rearrange her legs. "Vijeeter!" She called for a dancer-mage without looking at him.

"Yes ma'am?!" He froze in place.

"If you are going to dance, do it outside," Erza demanded and turned to Wakaba. "Wakaba, I'm getting tired of that smell and your cigarette butts are all over the floor, get rid of that disgusting habit!" The **Kemuri Mahō** user buried his face in his hands. "Nab! Just hesitating in front of the request board as usual? May be it's time to stop pissing in the wind and pick up a job already?!"

"Eh?" Mirajane raised an eyebrow as she heard the last of Erza's phrases.

"That's a familiar manner of speech…" Lucy noted. "By the way, it seems that she loves to tell everybody what to do even more than Natsu…"

"Macao!" She stared at the **Pāpuru Furea** user with a disappointed gaze for a few seconds before releasing a deep sigh.

"Say something, damn it!" He pleaded desperately but got nothing in return.

"Ah, you guys give me so much trouble, but I'll let it slide today without saying anything," Erza stated as she adjusted her hair.

"I think she's already said more than enough," Lucy whispered to Sin. "Is she like a disciplinary committee or something?"

"That'd be Erza…" Sin murmured as the entire guild became dead quiet because Erza's eyes locked with Natsu's.

"Wanna say something to me too, darling?" Natsu asked with a soft smile. Several newspapers floated in front of him, which contained articles about his exploits on the front pages, including today's release, with a photo of a mushroom cloud in place of Everlue's mansion.

Erza gritted her teeth, glaring at the salmon-haired warlock for a few moments before speaking. "Yes I do, kiss my ass Natsu." she hissed.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Well, your ass is the best around here, so why not? Turn around and lean down," he stood up and headed to Erza.

"Do not approach me!" knight-mage growled, clenching her fists.

"You just asked me to kiss you! Ah, women…" Natsu exclaimed with false disappointment. "Anyway, get rid of that schlock," Natsu pointed at the demon's horn. "That thing is even more absurd than you are."

Erza's cheeks grew pink with fury as she clenched her fists tightly.

"Come on, tincan, do it. I promise to buy next the _Sorcerer's Weekly _as soon as it comes out," Natsu licked his lips as Erza's eyes suddenly erupted with bright yellow flames. It seemed very similar to the instances when Natsu's eyes erupted with crimson light.

"Now this is odd…" Sin commented. At the same time Lucy noticed that Natsu closed his own eyes for a second. Moments later the fire in Erza's eyes went out.

It was a very strange scene, but Lucy knew too little about Erza to make assumptions. Instead she addressed Sin. "What was odd about it?"

"The flame in her eyes. As far as I know her magic has nothing to do with fire, at least not directly…" Lil dragon explained.

"Okay, I think I have to go," Natsu said carelessly and headed toward guildhall's doors. When he was almost outside the building the god slayer stopped and turned around. "By the way, can I assume that you had earned the full reward for your mission in size of 7,350,000 jewels?"

Erza, despite still being enraged, gave him a barely noticeable nod.

"As expected. Congratulations, you lost," he said then continued on his way toward town's center, vanishing from sight.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH!" Erza's furious howl shook the entire guildhall. Having forgotten about her trophy she flew out of the guildhall like a bullet, yelling, "NATSU! I'LL KILL YOU!"

The whole guild let out a sigh of relief as Erza vanished from sight. "Fuh, we got off lightly… It's been a while since I saw Erza so pissed off…" Loki commented.

"Did you hear her scream? It sounded more like a fiend's roar than a human's voice. Each day she becomes more and more monstrous…" Elfman scratched his cheek.

"Okay, can someone explain to me what just happened? Anyone?" Lucy asked, looking between Mirajane and Sin.

"Well, Erza Scarlet is a senior mage of our guild, as is Natsu. Both of them are considered equals in strength. They are the most unyielding rivals of our guild…" Sin started to explain.

"Really?! Equal to Natsu?!" Lucy asked in shock as she remembered how Natsu wiped out that huge mansion with one spell.

"Also, Erza adores order and always strictly follows the rules. She also forces others to do the same, usually through fear of her fury. Then there is Natsu who likes to hurl spells hit and miss, destroying everything left and right. He likes to remind her that he is not afraid of her, and it infuriates her terribly." Sin concluded.

"It's ironic," Mirajane sighed. "If you put the IQ of those two together it would probably be one-fourth of our guild's IQ. However, if you put the childishness of those two together it would probably be at least one-half of our guild's childishness."

"Okay, I understand," Lucy said with a smile. "Now I see why you two tease Natsu constantly… By the way, what did Natsu mean when he said that he was going to buy _Sorcerer's Weekly_?"

"Ah, this…" Mira giggled. "About nine months ago they had a full-scale battle between each other. After almost an hour of fighting still neither emerged victorious, but a huge amount of collateral damage had been done. Master became enraged, he kicked both their asses out and forbade them to use spells against each other ever again. For violation of this order Natsu will have to pay 200,000 for each spell, and Erza will have to take a photo for sorcerer's weekly, topless, for each spell."

Lucy snorted as she heard word "topless".

"Yeah, Makarov is a pervert too, but he is an extremely powerful mage and he perfectly used their weak points – Natsu's greed and Erza's pride," Sin commented.

"Then why did she chased after him?" Lucy wondered.

"Well, no one denied her the use of her fists," Mirajane shrugged. The guild slowly started to return to normal and she had to get back to work.

* * *

Year 784, July 6th, 11:50 AM, somewhere in the forest, not too far from Magnolia.

Natsu marched through the forest, using bolts of his magic to clear a path from bushes and branches.

"You produce more noise than a battalion of demons…" Erza's voice noted from somewhere nearby. Natsu smirked and headed in that direction. He passed twenty more meters and found Erza, sitting under a large oak tree. As he approached she stood up, and without saying anything jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arm around his neck. Their lips merged in a greedy and extremely passionate kiss as Natsu pressed her closer to his body.

Their kiss lasted for about two minutes before lack of oxygen forced them to break away. "Damn, I missed it so, so much… That was the longest month in my life!" she stated, trying to regain her breath.

Natsu pressed her head to his shoulder, burying his face into her hair. "You think it was easier for me? Unable to touch your silky hair, to inhale their smell, to look into your eyes?" He kissed her earlobe. "Not mentioning that I alone had to lie to the entire guild and be the subject to their speculations and jokes about our relationship."

"My poor Natsu…" Erza chuckled a little. "But, in the end, splitting up for four weeks was your idea," she noted with a slightly accusatory tone. "And this was for the last time! From now on I will not let you go from me even for four hours, do not even mentioning four weeks," the scarlet haired girl stated, her voice stern as iron, but Natsu only pressed her to himself tighter, gaining a satisfied groan.

"I know…" he whispered into her ear. "But, to be honest, this little temporary parting was useful, at least for me. Since we started dating, or may be even earlier, I knew that I want to live with you and with you alone. But now I'm understood that I want to have you as my partner, too."

"Speaking of partnerships," Erza started with narrowed eyes, "why does your coat carry the smell of two different women's perfume?"

"Oh, c'mon Erza, jealousy doesn't fit you. We're bound by an eternal seal, but even without it, cheating my beloved is the most shameful thing I could do. It's even worse than losing the battle," Natsu said with a smile. "One of those smells belongs to a girl whom I defeated yesterday, during my last mission and the second one belongs to a newcomer whom I took as a temporary teammate for that mission. First team mission, etc., you know the drill."

Erza scrutinized Natsu for a few seconds but then relaxed and put her head to God slayer's shoulder. "The newcomer was that blonde that sat near the counter? She asked some questions about me."

"You heard her questions? Amazing... You're advancing your new magic so fast!" Natsu praised his girlfriend, gaining another satisfied groan – she likes to be praised.

"By the way, what's happened at Hacobe Mountain? I heard Cana whispering to Macao," Erza asked making Natsu chuckle.

"That's why you didn't said anything for him – you didn't know what happened... He screwed up his mission a little, I rescued him," Natsu answered, tenderly stroking Erza's back.

"By the way, why did you say "Stop pissing in the wind" to Nab? Some people were surprised…" the god slayer asked.

"Because, rather than teach you something good I started to copy your habits, use of vulgar expressions, for example…" Erza hugged him tighter "Nasty boy…" Her limbs were still wrapped around Natsu.

"It's good that we are going to announce our relationship, I'm tired of hiding. Moreover, I think Sin already figured it out partially, and Mira too. By the way, I have a gift for you!" Natsu suddenly remembered something. Despite the fact that Erza was hanging onto him, he managed to pull a little gold mirror, decorated with diamonds from his internal pocket. The mirror that Natsu stole from Everlue's house. "Take it, you may be a very exotic girl, but you're still a girl, so let this little thing be a reminder that you are the most beautiful girl in the world when I'm too far to do it myself."

He was right, Erza was a girl after all and she melted at his words and compliments. She grabbed the mirror and examined it. It was obvious that she liked it, but for some reason she sniffed it and looked at Natsu with suspicions. "Natsu, it has a strange smell… You did not steal it from somewhere, didn't you?"

"Of course not, I acquired it in battle!" Natsu waved off any accusations.

Erza sighed heavily, thinking _'I suppose that's how you justified your robbery – combat trophies...'_ but nonetheless she hid the mirror in her magic space.

"By the way, my dear, how much further do you intend to hang onto me?" Natsu asked playfully.

"My entire life," Erza answered without delay.

"Your straightforwardness and honesty are so cute sometimes. However, I hope you will keep your promise – tomorrow, 7.07 we will announce our relationships to the guild, and since I won our bet you will start the talking," the god slayer said, looking straight into her clear, beautiful eyes, full of adoration.

"Okay," she answered simply and smiled, before moving in for another kiss.

* * *

Year 784, July 6th, 17:00 AM, Fairy Tail.

Everything was going as usual inside the guildhall, well, except that everyone was less noisy than usual because Erza was there sitting at one of the tables. It looked like she was filling some kind of report about her mission.

Suddenly the guildhall doors opened and some man appeared inside the doorway. He had spiky, black hair and dark-blue eyes. He was dressed in a middle length white coat, dark-green pants and high black boots. His name was Gray Fullbuster.

"Gray! Welcome back!" Mirajane waved at the ice-mage from behind the counter.

"Hi Mira," he returned her welcome as he went to the counter. "Is master here?" Gray asked as he approached the barmaid.

"The master left this morning for a Local Guild Masters League meeting," Mirajane answered with a slight smile.

"Okay, seems like I have to send a message to him then," Gray said with slight disappointment.

"Is something wrong Gray?" Mirajane asked, Erza raised her head to listen to Gray's answer too.

"I'm not sure…" the ice wizard mumbled. "This is why I want to talk with the master first."

"Okay, master is in Clover town, you can send the message there," Mira stated before returning to her work.

"Right away," Gray said as he stood up from his bar stool.

"Gray, get dressed," Erza demanded as she returned to her reports filling.

Gray looked at himself and discovered that he was only wearing his boxers. "WAAHHH! How the heck did this happened?! I was in my clothes just a moment ago!" Gray yelled in panic as he rushed to find his clothes.

"Erza, do you know where Natsu is?" Mira asked as she came to clean table that stood next to Erza's.

"Natsu?" Erza pretended that she did not recognize the name. "Ah, you mean Chaos and Destruction? Wandering around, somewhere out there in our world, as usual," she answered with narrowed eyes before returning to her papers.

Mira rolled her eyes and shook her head as she returned back to the counter. "I'm wondering... Does she really not notice that she is copying Natsu's demeanor or she doing it intentionally to tease us?" Mira asked exasperatedly as Gray puts on his pants.

Suddenly Erza raised her eyes and glanced at Mirajane with a quiet, dark glare, causing a light shiver to run along Mira's spine.

"Lately, it seems to me that she can hear us even from the opposite side of the guildhall," Gray whispered to Mira as they both stared at Erza's reaction.

"I don't know, but if things continue this way I'll get paranoia because of these two," Mirajane mumbled.

* * *

Year 784, July 7th, 9:00 AM, Fairy Tail.

"Hrmmm..." Lucy thoughtfully stared up at the request board, looking at the various kinds of missions that were available for picking. "Search for a magic bracelet. Remove spell from a cursed staff. Fortune telling love with astrology?! Exterminating a devil on the volcano?!"

'_And why is this guy constantly hanging around the board?_' Lucy thought as she snuck a peak at Nab.

"Found something interesting yet?" Sin asked as he landed on the top edge of request board.

"There sure are a lot of things wizards are requested to do…" Lucy noted as Elfman approached the board.

"Oh, escort the convoy with valuable goods for 220,000 jewels!" He exclaimed after browsing through different requests, and turned to Mirajane, who was standing behind the bar counter. "Nee-chan, mark that I'm taking this job!"

"Alright, I'll mark it when I'm done!" Mirajane responded with a smile. "Take care, brother!"

"Don't you worry nee-chan, my fists can handle it with ease," Elfman said as she walked towards the door. On his way out the doorway he shouted, "I'm the MAN!"

"Why does he continues to say that phrase?" Lucy wondered. "By the way, what kind of magic does Elfman use?"

"It's called **Teiku Ōbā: Bīsuto Sōru**, pretty interesting kind of magic…" Lil Dragon stated as he relocated himself on Lucy's shoulder. "It allows him to record a monster or a monster's body part he has touched and then either take their form or summon it into his own arm. According to rumors, Elfman actually defeated the beasts before "recording" their forms. Despite the fact that he cannot yet use full take over, Elfman is still considered as very strong wizard."

"And why did he become so excited when he found that job?" Lucy asked.

"Because he is good at escort jobs. Many robbers may reconsider their plans to attack the convoy as soon as they see Elfman's figure." Mirajane explained, not without some pride in her voice, Elfman is her brother, after all.

"Ah, yes, I remember! Natsu mentioned something about this," Lucy said as she remembered the god slayer's phrase _'…you have to choose missions according to the specific benefits of your team members.'_

Lucy looked around. "There are so many different kinds of mages in the guild, it seems that almost every member of Fairy Tail has his own type of magic."

"In general, yes– I doubt you could find at least two mages in our guild who uses the same magic, Elfman and Mirajane are the exception because they are siblings," Sin stated.

Mirajane came closer to the request board, lighting up the room with her kind smile, and said, "Just let me know if you find a mission that will suit you." Lucy turned her head to look at blue-eyed girl. "Since master's attending a Local Guild Masters League meeting I'll be handling the missions' logbook until he gets back."

"Why this is your duty too? You already have more than enough work here, why don't some of the senior mages do it?" Lucy questioned.

"Lucy, actually Mirajane is an S-class mage too," Sin noted.

"Really?! But…but that means she is strong too, just like Natsu or Erza? Then why do you working as a barmaid?" Lucy was quite surprised.

"Well, I… No, I'm not…" Mira stuttered as her smile faded away, Lucy quickly understood that this was a very unsuitable subject for discussion and decided to change it.

"Sorry Mira-san, forget it. You just mentioned something called "Local Guild Masters League", what is it?" the stellar-mage inquired.

Lucy succeeded in her task of distracting Mirajane from sad thoughts. She perked up and started to talk. "From time to time, all the guild masters in the area get together and give regular reports. It's different than the council meeting, though…" Mira pondered for a second before turning toward a large fellow in a white shirt and black, pointy hat. "Umm, I guess it can be a bit confusing. Reedus, can I borrow your **Hikari Hude** for a few minutes?"

"Oui." The man reached into his pocket and handed over some pen-like item to Mirajane.

"Since you just joined the guild, you probably don't know about the wizard organization chart, right?" Mirajane started to draw a diagram of the magic world structure, which should help her explain the basics to Lucy. "The people at the top of the world of magic are the ten members of the council, connected with the government. Their job is to bring order to everything that goes on in the world of magic. They also pass judgment on mages who commit crimes in the guilds." Lucy listened as Mirajane continued her explanation before the blue-eyed girl moved to the section below. "Then below them is an organization of guild masters, the local Guild Masters League. They circulate the decrees of the council, also their task is to smooth out the communications between the guilds in the same area, and keep us unified." Mirajane turned from the diagram to look at Lucy. "And I should say, this is quite a hard job to do, keeping the guilds together."

"I had no idea that each guild had a connection with another one," Lucy said as she stared at the diagram.

"Keeping the guilds in alliance is very important, it helps to establish a good relationship between decent mages. Because, if you are not careful…"

Suddenly, Lucy noticed that crimson mist started to envelop her body as a scary voice reached her ears: **"OR THEY WILL COME AND DRAG YOU OFF INTO THE DARKNESS!"**

"HIEEEK!" Lucy wailed in panic as she jumped to get away from the mist. Then she turned around, her eyes with filled with horror. She really thought that something was coming for her. Instead she found Natsu, who barely stood on his feet because he had burst out laughing.

"Fool! I almost had a heart attack!" Lucy yelled at them while a hand clutched the front of her shirt where her heart pounded just beneath her skin.

"Oh c'mon Lucy, don't be a dull beggar. You shouldn't get scared so easily," Natsu waved her off.

"Scaredy-cat Lucy!" Sin made a new nickname for her.

"Shoo! Stop fooling around!" Lucy still tried to catch her breath.

"By the way, Lucy, 'they' really do exist," Mirajane noted to the newcomer as she started to draw additional section on her diagram. "They're known as Dark Guilds Lucy. We call whatever guild that does not belong to the league the Dark one. They are made up of wizards who don't want to follow council rules, most of the missions they do involve crimes and malicious acts."

"They'll come to recruit him one day, then" Lucy noted sourly. She was still angry at Natsu. "Are those Dark Guilds really that scary?" The stellar-mage turned to Mirajane.

"They are dangerous Lucy, but you should not be worried about it – they usually try to remain in the shadows, it is very unlikely that you could meet with them during regular missions," the blue-eyed girl answered.

"But it does not mean that you can become careless Lucy," Sin noted as he landed on her shoulder. Then he addressed Natsu, "By the way – isn't it almost 9:30 of July, 7?"

"Patience, Sin, three more minutes," Natsu waved him off.

"July, 7?" Lucy looked at Natsu questioningly.

"Lucy, do you remember that Natsu and Erza made a bet? Well, for some reason they decided to keep the stakes in secret, so no one actually knows it. Today, at 9:30, they should announce the winner, and the stakes should also be revealed to everyone," Sin explained.

Suddenly Lucy and the others heard a familiar set of heavy footsteps.

"She is here, it's time…" Natsu said with a mysterious look.

A few moments later, the guildhall doors opened and Erza entered the building. Natsu went to meet her.

The whole guild fell quiet as Natsu and Erza met in the middle of the guildhall.

"May I have your attention please?" Erza started to talk, it was clear by her tone that she was not asking for attention but demanding it. "As most of you already know, four weeks ago I and Natsu made a bet…"

"We decided to keep the stakes secret and reveal them simultaneously with the winner announcement. However, it was done not because the stakes are very special, but because they are very insignificant. We just wanted to keep some intrigue," Natsu smirked.

Everyone looked at each other questioningly.

"Well, it's time to settle it," Erza continued. "First thing's first. You should know that Natsu has managed to earn more money than I during these 28 days, so I admit my defeat," she said simply, surprising everyone; Titania admitted defeat so easily?

"Our stakes…" Natsu continued. "The one who lost shall admit his defeat in front of whole guild. No more no less, and that already has been done."

"And that's it?! So much mystery for something like this?!" Someone tried to resent but Erza's glare shut him up quite fast. Most people remained quite as they understood that it was not easy to say "I've lost" in front of whole guild.

"But that is not all," Natsu added, "there was another little condition – there is another announcement to the guild that we should do, and the one who lost will do the talking. We also kept stakes in secret to avoid speculations about the announcement." The god slayer turned to the scarlet haired mage. "Now, I hope you rehearsed your speech?"

"Many times," she answered and cleared her throat. "Now, mages of Fairy Tail, a want to make an announcement…" the knight-mage started, but then she suddenly turned to Natsu, wrapped her hands around his neck and her lips merged with his in a very passionate kiss.

The guild members stood still as if they had all turned to stone. However, not all of them; Mirajane and Sin looked on with satisfied smirks. Lucy was not shocked either– she knew too little about these two to have a strong reaction.

"Very well said…" Natsu admitted as Erza released his lips from their kiss to breathe. Even he did not expected so bold action from Erza as to kiss him in front of the whole guild. Whispers washed over the guildhall.

"Hey hey hey! It's not all – wait until I finish please," Erza asked sternly in the form of a demand. She moved in for another kiss as her left hand started to glow as she used her **Kansō** magic to remove her metal glove. As soon as she did, Erza raised her left, now ungloved hand, above her head to show her palm to everyone. Or, more likely, to show her ring finger to everyone, with a ring on it. The gold ring shone beautifully with a platinum inscription and one huge diamond, surrounded by a ringlet of twelve rubies. Without a doubt it was a wedding ring, and an extremely pricy one at that.

"Okaaay, that was unexpected…" Sin murmured thoughtfully as he scratched his bone scull.

"To say the least…" Mirajane agreed, she stared at the ring with widened eyes.

Even Lucy was surprised. "Oh my… That ring… I wonder how much it cost…"

Suddenly the guildhall doors opened again and Gray entered the building. He was in a hurry so he began to talk on the move. "Hey Mira, master sent me a messa….." Gray fell silent and froze in place as he slowly started to realize that he was looking straight at Natsu and Erza kissing. The diamond of her ring shined especially bright in the light of the day that came through the opened doors.

Gray stood still, as well as entire guild, staring at the (apparently) loving couple.

It seemed Mirajane was less shocked than the others, so she was the first who dared to break the silence, "So, when is the wedding?"

"Saturday, October 13" Natsu answered as he and Erza observed the guild, very satisfied with the effect that they managed to create.

"And how long have you been dating?" Sin asked, he too was not shocked as much as the others.

"Our first date held a few hours after our battle which took place on October 13, nine months ago" Erza said with a shining smile. She was proud of her idea to assign the wedding day exactly one year after their first date.

"Nine months?! You have been hiding your relationship almost nine months?!" Mirajane yelled in shock. "Why?!"

"Because we wanted some privacy at the first stage of our relationship. We wanted to understand our feelings, to better feel each other." Natsu explained. "We are sorry if you feel offended, but we just wanted some privacy."

* * *

Questions and demands for an explanation lasted approximately fifteen minutes. Oddly enough, Natsu and Erza patiently answered all the questions, except most they deemed stupid or those that were too private.

Finally, when everything calmed down and all members of Fairy Tail knew that they were all invited to the wedding, they congratulated the young couple. After all, Fairy Tail is a large family.

* * *

"Gray? Are you listening to me?" Erza called for the ice wizard who was still in shock and did not hear her when she called for him for the first time.

"Ah, yes ma'am!" Grey suddenly realized that Erza was talking to him directly.

"Why is that guy so scared of Erza?" Lucy asked Mirajane as she, Sin and Mira were sitting near the counter.

"Well once, she caught Gray walking around town naked and beat him up, quite hard."

"That…makes some sense..." Lucy replied with a sweat drop.

Erza looked at Gray (who somehow appeared only in his boxers) for several seconds and said, "I got a message from the master about an hour ago. He said that you found something and might need my help."

"Wha… He did?! Ok… Okay, I found something while returning from my mission. Master authorized me for an investigation, but I don't need help…" Gray tried to speak in the most non-offensive way possible.

"Then it's decided," Erza cut him off. "We're teaming up for this mission. We will be leaving tomorrow morning." In a matter of seconds Erza had taken leadership.

"Wait Erza, it's just a-" Gray tried to argue but was interrupted again, by Natsu this time.

"And Gray, I'm sure you remember that fifteen minutes ago I mentioned that from now on I and Erza are a team, right? That means if she goes, I'm going too," Natsu stated as he was being encased in Erza's loving hug.

This moment was very suitable to mention that Gray's name really suits him because he literally turned pale-gray. He looked as if the devil himself told him that he's going to assist him on the mission. Maybe it's because Natsu and Erza together are even worse than the devil...

"Erza…Natsu…and Gray…" Mirajane said to herself, making Lucy look at her in confusion as she noticed the blue-eyed girl shiver a little. "It was very hard to imagine that Natsu and Erza could make a team, and it's even harder to imagine Gray joining them." She brought a hand to her mouth in amazement as she watched the deeply depressed Gray who sat near the counter and the "shy girl" Erza cover Natsu's neck with kisses. "Lucy, I think we were just witnesses in the creation of Fairy Tail's strongest team!"

"FOR REAL!?" It was the only thing Lucy could say after hearing that.

* * *

Natsu and Erza left the guild to make some "preparations" before the mission.

Gray was still depressed. "Why did master do this? It is a simple recon mission, I could easily handle it myself… Now I have to deal with these two…" he mumbled to himself.

"What's wrong with him?" Lucy asked Sin.

"Well, to be honest, Gray is a very good mage. He may not be as powerful as Natsu or Erza but he is quite close to their level. I think the two of them at the same time is just too much for him. Don't worry, he will be fine in the team," Lil Dragon assured her.

"Oh, by the way Lucy, did you find a new team for yourself? Or did you decide to do missions on your own?" Mirajane asked as she came close, somewhat overhearing their talk.

"Huh? Oh, I'm not in a rush. I'll think about it for a bit," Lucy answered, however, she actually enjoyed being a teammate with Natsu.

Cana's voice called out to them, "No need to talk it down now. You don't have to force yourself to team up with anyone." Lucy turned to the woman's table to see her again drinking booze from the barrel. "Natsu told me that you did a great job for your first mission so you'll get more team requests than you can stomach soon."

As if to confirm Cana'a statement Loki appeared from nowhere. "So Lucy, how about the two of us form the team of love," Loki said with a charming smile as he drew closer to Lucy. "Tonight, just the two of us."

Lucy's eyebrow twitched as a drop of sweat slipped down the side of her face. _'Not possible,'_ she mentally deadpanned.

"You really are beautiful – even looking through the dark shades of my sunglasses, you're still so shining and beautiful." Loki continued to sweet talk her, not paying attention to the look she was giving him. "If I looked at you with my naked eyes, they'd probably shatter into pieces." Loki smiled, still trying to make a good impression, but Lucy retained that same deadpan stare.

"Then please take them off," she said bluntly, unfazed by his pathetic attempt at wooing her.

"KLINK!" The set of keys at Lucy's belt jangled. All of Loki's charms seemed to disappear as his attention drifted down to the clanging set of keys on Lucy's belt, his eyes widened in fear and a little bit of shock. "W-Wait, don't tell me you are the **Seirei Madōshi**?!" Loki shouted as he took several steps back.

"Yep, she is," Sin responded instead of Lucy, whose hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted a little to the side.

"She already has seven units in her contracts, including three Zodiac keys!" Mirajane said with a bit of a cunning smile.

"Fate, what cruel tricks you play on me?!" Loki exclaimed, turning on his heels and running to the exit. "I'm sorry, we are going to end it here for now!" he called back.

"When was there ever an "us"?" Lucy stared after him, blinking. "What just happened?" She addressed her question to nearby people.

Mirajane giggled gaining Lucy's attention. "Loki isn't very good at dealing with **Seirei Madōshi**." She explained. "I bet something happened in the past involving a girl."

"That man flirts with any woman he sees," Sin said as he landed on Mirajane's shoulder. "I wouldn't be surprised if something bad already had happened to him in the past, perhaps some **Seirei Madōshi** girl appeared to be short tempered."

"So I guess he's tried to do it to you as well?" Lucy questioned the barmaid and Mirajane nodded.

"Yep, I just ignored him and when he became too persistent Elfman tried to beat him up, but Natsu went ahead of him and smashed Loki into the wall… Natsu's style." Mira smiled.

"Also Loki was hitting on Erza and nearly got himself killed… poor guy," Sin added.

"Somehow it didn't surprise me…" Lucy sighed as Mirajane looked at Gray who was still a bit shocked.

"I wonder how their mission will go…" Lucy thought aloud.

"You don't have to be worried Lucy, each of those two can handle almost any task, and Gray is also powerful enough," Mirajane stated confidently.

"Probably, but... he may feel himself uncomfortable in the company of two lovebirds right now…" Lucy mused.

"Lovebirds? In the company of two vultures, you were going to say?" Sin clarified.

"Yeah, you're right Sin, it may be an issue right now…" Mirajane said as she placed a glass of ice tea in front of Lucy. "Lucy, can I ask you for a little favor?"

"Hm?" Lucy looked up at the barmaid.

* * *

Year 784, July 7th, 11:50 AM, dread forest, near Oshibana Town.

Deep in the dark forest, full of dead trees, the dark guild Eisenwald were located. Many dark mages, who were not averse to taking illegal missions and to commit various crimes, inhabited the area.

"Who was that woman who came here recently?" a tall man with whiskers asked as he and his comrades walked through the halls.

"I dunno, I couldn't see her guild mark or anything," another man replied. He was wearing a yellow and black jacket with the Egypt-styled hood over his head.

"She was gorgeous…" the taller man muttered before letting out a frustrated yell. "Shit, I should have made a move on her!"

"You wouldn't have stood a chance, Byard. You could only get your ass kicked, she came here to visit Erigor," a fat man commented, drawing Byard's attention.

"Has Kageyama come back yet?" The group turned to see a tattooed man standing behind them with a giant scythe leaning against his shoulder. He was an extremely tall, lean-built and yet mildly muscular man with silver hair and dark eyes; this man was the ace of the Eisenwald guild – Shinigami Erigor.

"It's not an easy task to break the seal of that thing, so it can't be helped," the hooded man answered.

"Don't be hesitant, now is our chance. Our time has finally come…" He said with evil smirk. "This is our only chance to accomplish our objective. Now, while those old geezers are having their regular meeting."

* * *

Year 784, July 8th, 9:25 AM, nearby Magnolia station.

Natsu and Erza walked toward the station hand in hand, chatting.

"I'm impressed, you greatly improved your new magic while you were gone for that mission," Natsu said to his beloved.

"Not as much as I could have if I was training with you," she answered with smile. "Right after this lacrima was implanted into my body and I started to learn magic from the grimoire that you gave me I began to feel strange, but I think I'm starting to enjoy it."

"Me too. You became so warm and even more emotional than you already were, I liked it," he said, making her hug him tightly as he inhaled the smell of her hair.

"By the way, you also seem to greatly improve your sword techniques," she whispered into his ear and kissed his earlobe.

"It's not that hard if you have one of the best swordswoman as your sparring partner. Besides, I lost half of my hand to get this magic so it seems quite justly that I got some benefits in exchange," Natsu answered and their lips merged in a kiss.

* * *

Year 784, July 8th, 9:35 AM, Magnolia station.

"What the hell was master thinking?! Why did he have to make those two…monsters go with me?! I know I'm more than enough for such a trifle!" Gray huffed angrily.

"Just be quiet, you're too loud," Lucy said as she noticed a couple of people were staring at them.

"By the way, who are you and why are you here anyway?" Gray asked making Lucy sigh a little.

"I'm Lucy, and I'm here because Mira-san asked me to come along. She asked me to keep you company since Erza and Natsu are a couple and they could make you feel uncomfortable," Lucy explained as she recalled her talk with the blue-eyed waitress.

"Whatever," he said as he scratched his hair.

"Sorry for making you wait, have you been here for long?" Erza's voice called out to them.

"Not really, we just got here," Lucy waved at them.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Natsu asked as he and his fiancé got closer.

"I asked her to get along with you three," Mirajane's voice came from behind as she walked toward the group with Sin sitting on her shoulder. "I thought she could…bring some variety into your team."

Erza opened her mouth to say something but Natsu sealed her lips with his, preventing her from speaking. As he released her lips about fifteen seconds after, he whispered, "It's all right my love, she wants a better."

"Actually, I wanted to ask the girl's name." Erza raised an eyebrow as Natsu smiled a bit guilty, he thought that Erza was going to argue with Mirajane.

"Let me do the introduction then," Natsu said and turned to Lucy. "Erza, this is the girl I told you about, Lucy."

"Nice to meet you," Erza nodded.

"Lucy, this is another senior mage of our guild and my future consort, Erza Scarlet," Natsu introduced his bride with unconcealed pride.

"My pleasure," Lucy gave a small bow.

"Gray," Erza addressed the ice mage, "Are you ready? As master desired, you will lead the mission since you have some information about it."

"Ready as I've ever been," Gray answered. He had eventually accepted his fate of going on the mission with Natsu and Erza.

"Hmm, Erza, I see you're going to travel light," Mira noted. "You usually take a whole cart of luggage on missions, but now you have nothing at all…"

"Now I have Natsu and I don't need anything else," Erza stated and hugged the salmon haired god slayer.

"You like to run to extremes… It's so sexy…" Natsu stated as his beloved knight-mage gently bit his neck.

Mirajane giggled at Natsu's phrase and turned to Sin and Gray, who contemporaneously made a face-palm. "I'm afraid it can't be helped guys – it's love…"

* * *

Year 784, July 8th, 9:49 AM, inside the train at Magnolia station, one minute until departure.

"Take care, Mira!" Natsu waved to the blue-eyed blonde as she turned away and headed off into the station. Erza and Natsu took seats opposite to Lucy and Gray, Sin was between the blonde and the stripper. A few seconds later the train gave the signal for departure as its wheels started to roll.

Suddenly, Erza's skin started to turn pale and wet from a cold sweet. "Erza-san? Is something wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly.

"I… don't know… It seems I… got some kind… of motion sickness… and it's getting worse… each day…" Erza moaned with great effort.

Natsu lifted her by her armpits and made her sit on his lap so he could serve as a shock absorber between Erza and the train. It seemed to make her feel a bit better.

"Strange, you never had it before… and it seems I have to cancel the order of two-seat sport **majikku 4-hoīru bīkuru**…" Natsu murmured to himself.

"Why did you order it in the first place? You have no driver's license," Gray inquired.

"Erza does," Natsu answered as he kissed her cheek. "She is perfect – I found a beautiful lover, teammate, bodyguard and driver all in one woman…" Salmon-haired god slayer "praised" his beloved. "At least I thought so…" he added thoughtfully, it seems she can't be a driver…

Erza looked first at Natsu then at Gray, with a silent plea in her eyes. "Gray, I'm too weak to summon something from my magic space, so please, do me a favor," she asked in a weak voice. "Use your magic to create a knife and carve my heart out of my chest…" Gray, Lucy and even Sin gulped at this request as Erza continued. "There's nothing good about him..." she pointed at Natsu. "He is insolent, cunning and greedy – yet that stupid thing-" she pointed at her heart- "continues to tell me that I love him so strong and so sincerely..."

"Hey, it seems you also learned how to do ambiguous compliments…" Natsu smiled and hugged her tighter "I love you too, so much."

All three at the opposite seat made a "facepalm" gesture. _'No, they're both definitely weird,'_ Lucy thought.

The train moved along the rails across the fields of country. "Gray, isn't it about time you told us? What are we supposed to be doing?" Sin asked, mostly to prevent another "lovely" conversation.

"Well, when I was returning from my mission I stopped for some rest at the town of Onibas, in the bar where wizards gather. While I was inside I overheard a group of hoodlums talking. I did not hear the specifics, but I understood that they were from the dark guild Eisenwald and they were up to something. I heard that they tried to unseal something called "**Rarabai**", also, I heard two names that are unknown to me – Erigor and Reina, so I asked master's permission for a recon mission," Gray explained.

"Erigor… Reina!" Erza moaned and Natsu exclaimed contemporaneously.

"I know…that name…" Erza started to explain, fighting with her sickness "He is also called… Shinigami or **Shinukami no Erigor**. An ace of the Eisenwald guild…"

"S-Shinigami..." Lucy exclaimed with a bit of fear in her voice.

Erza continued, "It's a nickname people gave him… because he kept taking up assassination requests…. The council prohibits… mages from taking assassination requests… but Eisenwald choose money… Now I remember… Eisenwald was ousted from the mage guild league… and is now categorized… as a dark guild…" Erza moaned the last words with great efforts, making Natsu to cover her mouth with his palm to prevent her from further pain induced by talking.

"A dark guild?!" Lucy exclaimed, horrified.

"Lucy, you're sweating all over, what's up?" Sin asked ironically.

"Well, I did not knew about this Erigor, however, I'm familiar with the second name – Reina," Natsu stated. "She is also known as **Ginjitsushi no Reina **– a rogue mage, well-known among bounty hunters. She is wanted for various crimes, including but not limited to abductions, hostage taking and racketeering. The reward for bringing her in is 1,300,000 jewels. Rumor says that she left the country… Looks like it's not true," Natsu finished his report.

"So… this was why master requested you two to come with me… He supposed that it might not be just a reckon mission…" Gray thought aloud.

"Exactly. Two dangerous criminals and a whole dark guild are up to something. This Lullaby that they are trying to acquire – it must be a very special, or most likely an extremely dangerous magic item." Natsu's eyes started to glow with crimson light.

"I had heard them talking about how they were having trouble taking possession of Lullaby because it is sealed, so I think we have some time," Gray stated.

"Maybe I shouldn't have come along…" Lucy muttered, a lot of sweat trailing down her face.

"I told you once and I'm going to repeat it again – too late, blonde. You are going with us." Natsu had managed to smash her hopes in one blow. "We have to act quickly. We're going to march into Eisenwald and obliterate anyone who gets in our way to take this Lullaby before they can use it. Brace yourselves people, we might need our full power to deal with this mess," Natsu stated as the train continued to carry them to their destination.

"That sounds interesting," Gray smirked in anticipation of the battle.

* * *

At some point along the way Lucy realized that she actually did not saw any of the magic powers the other Fairy Tail members wielded except Natsu. "Oh, by the way people, what kind of magic do you use?"

Since Erza continued to suffer from motion sickness Natsu answered for her. "Erza's magic is beautiful, just like she is. Her attacks are swift, precise and deadly, you'll see soon enough," Erza let out a weak moan of thankfulness.

"It's not an explanation…" Lucy muttered.

"Yeah, but I think Gray's magic is the most artistic," Sin commented, ignoring the blonde.

"You think?" Gray was slightly pleased by the compliment. He silently held his left hand out and placed his right fist against the palm. Frost gathered around his hands before he parted his hands and opened his fist, revealing an ice sculpture of the Fairy Tail symbol.

"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed, she was impressed.

"Yeah, and it has a lot of utility" Natsu agreed.

"Though… Ice does not really fit you…" Erza commented, making both Natsu and Gray blink in surprise. _'Does not... fit? What she meant?'_

The train started to slow in preparation to halt when it reached the station. "First we have to find where Eisenwald's guildhall is located, and then we'll squash them, c'mon," Natsu stated as everyone was getting ready to leave the train. Surprisingly, Erza recovered from her sickness very quickly.

But when Natsu and Erza were in the carriage's platform they both suddenly stopped, Erza sniffed the air and Natsu clutched his left hand is if he felt pain in it. They stood like this for about three seconds before looking into each other's eyes.

"Love you, be careful," Erza said as she kissed the tip of his nose and got off the train. They no longer need words to understand each other. As soon as Erza left the train Natsu rushed back to their seats and fell on one of them, pretending that he is sleeping.

"Erza-san, what's going on? Where is Natsu?" Lucy asked when she noticed the knight-mage get off the train alone.

"It's just Erza, a title makes me goose," Erza stated as she started to look around, seeking the railroad control room. "Natsu stayed on the train, we felt something dark when we were about to exit, it seems that someone boarded the train, maybe someone from Eisenwald and Natsu is going to investigate."

"Erza, what are you looking for?" Gray asked.

"Control room," she answered flatly. "I want to stop the train in the middle of the span so Natsu will have more time"

"Natsu and I were in this station before, I think I know where it is," Sin waved his bone claw. "C'mon, this way!" He flew toward one of the station's corridors.

"Gray," Erza called for the ice-mage, "I need a favor from you, we need a ride."

Gray just nodded and headed toward the station's exit.

* * *

(With Natsu, inside the train)

Natsu laid on the train's seat, with his eyes closed. Normally he did not snore when he was sleeping, but now he did, for a show. He felt that source of darkness getting closer, now all that he had to do is wait.

"Excuse me sir? Is this seat taken?" A man in a white suite and with a spiky pony tail asked. Natsu ignored him, continue to pretend that he is sleeping, however, he felt the source of that dark force nearby.

"Some people like to sleep inside the trains," a man in white suite said and sat down without even waiting for the answer. His sight slipped down a little and he noticed Natsu's guild mark. "Oh? Fairy Tail? So you're a wizard of one of those legal guilds. I rarely read magazines, but I heard about your guild." He continued to speak despite Natsu pretending that he's not listening.

'_Damn, it's good that he's not reading the magazines, or he could recognize me…'_ Natsu thought. _'The next station is getting closer, c'mon Erza, my love, I know you can help me to get more time somehow.'_

"Speaking of Fairy Tail... Mirajane's famous, isn't she? She's in the magazines sometimes, right? She's also beautiful," the guy continued to speak on random subjects.

_'Oh Mother… I got the company of captain obvious…'_ Natsu thought in annoyance.

* * *

(With Erza and the others, at the Onibas station)

"That's the situation, and this is why I'm going to stop the train." As soon as the group made it to the control room, Erza explained the situation to the local railway's traffic supervisor. Every time she opened her mouth, she showed large canine teeth, which was much larger than any normal girl's teeth.

"Is it just me or do her canines looks like monster fangs?" Sin scratched his bone skull.

"What is the situation?" the traffic supervisor asked, he was sweating all over.

"People in Fairy Tail are very similar, aren't they?" Lucy asked Gray as they watched Erza talk to the traffic supervisor.

"Hey, don't judge the entire guild by these two, I'm normal," he replied, quite offended yet somehow he appeared only in his boxers.

"Then where are your clothes?!" The stellar-mage exclaimed. "How can an exhibitionist be normal?!"

"It's for my fiancé, please understand." Erza finished her monologue, which sounded more like a statement. She had already decided what she was going to do.

"Stop talking nonsense! We can't stop the entire train!" the supervisor shouted at Erza. "Not for just one person who did not managed to get off!"

"Don't you dare to yell at me," Erza growled as her eyes erupted in white-yellow flame.

"Eeek!" The traffic supervisor shivered as Erza's attention was focused on the switch behind the railway employee with the words 'Emergency stop' underneath it.

"Sin! Do it!" the little boney dragon looked at Erza, who pointed behind the traffic supervisor and followed her finger to see a switch. He saluted to her then flew toward the switch, flying over the railway employee's head.

"Aye aye ma'am!" he exclaimed before stopping at the switch and placed his little boney claws on it.

"Hey! Wait, you can't…" The traffic supervisor shouted as Sin pushed the switch down. An alarm started to ring and its sound carried throughout the whole Onibas station, alerting all those who were at the station.

"Huh? Emergency alarm?" Asked one of the passengers.

"An accident?" Another speculated.

"It's... became such a mess..." Lucy muttered with a sigh.

"Yup..." Gray agreed and she turned to look at him only to see that he had stripped down to his boxers… once again.

"Your outfit! When did you-?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"Gah! Not again," Gray yelled in panic.

"C'mon you three, let's go after that train! Gray, our transport is ready?" Erza asked as she headed toward the station's exit.

"Yep, it's just outside" Grey reported as he looked around to find his pants.

"Good. In times like this I'm so thankful to Natsu for what he taught me to travel light…" the knight-mage thought aloud.

* * *

(With Natsu, inside the train)

"Speaking of Mirajane, I wonder why she's not active anymore. She's still very young," the guy in the white shirt continued ramble. "I also heard that you guys have another gorgeous woman, Erza. I heard she likes to play the hard-to-get girl."

_'That's it, you __slink_! _When I get the information from you I'll rip away your flesh and feast upon your soul!'_ Natsu mentally yelled. The whole carriage started to vibrate because of Natsu's fury, which the god slayer could barely contain, but that idiot did not noticed anything and continued to talk.

"And I don't know the name, but I heard there was a very cute new girl who joined your guild just recently. Do you know her?" The guy with the ponytail said as Natsu let out a moan, pretending that he was about to wake up. He became silent and Natsu started to think that it was time to "wake up" and punish this guy, but the guy opened his mouth again. "I noticed that legal guilds have many cute girls… I envy you. There are no girls in my guild…" He looked at Natsu with an absolutely stupid grin on his face. "Though we got one recently, but I doubt she'd joined us for long. But her silver claimer magic is definitely a strong one…"

"That's all I wanted to know" Natsu said as he grabbed the guy by the collar of his white shirt, cutting him off mid-sentence. "You are from Eisenwald, and Reina is with you," the god slayer stated and winded Eisenwald's mage with a full forced punch, smashing him into the carriage's ceiling. "Now be quiet softy, I need to take a look at your stuff." Natsu grabbed the guy's bag and shook out its contents onto the seat near him.

At that moment the train began to slow down abruptly and the guy that had stuck in the ceiling fell to the floor. "This is one of the countless reasons I love this girl – I always can rely on her," Natsu addressed the guy on the floor as if they were old friends.

"How dare you?! You won't get away with hurting a member of Eisenwald!" the man shouted as a black and purple seal appeared under his feet and his shadow split into three tendrils and shot towards Natsu.

"Silence!" Natsu growled as Heavenly Blossom glinted in his left hand. Natsu swung twice with his blade – the first one sliced all shadows that tried to attack him and the second one sliced off the guy's ponytail. The Eisenwald member was frozen in shock as he grabbed his head to check his new haircut. Other passengers started to leave the carriage in a panic.

"Let me finish with this and after I'm done you're going to tell me all that you know about **Rarabai**," Natsu stated calmly as he continued to examine the guy's stuff. "Hmm… What's this?" He was about to grab some metallic sphere when he heard an announcement:

"Attention all passengers, we've confirmed that emergency stop was a false alarm. We will be departing shortly."

The train jolted forward and Eisenwald's member lost his balance and fell on his knees. As he hit the floor a skull-shaped flute landed in front of them. As soon as it happened Natsu clinched his left hand.

"No!" yelled the dark mage as he tried to get back on his feet.

"So, I'm guessing this is the thing," Natsu said with a pleased smile. "Now you have to tell me all that you know about it, as well as what Erigor and Reina are planning to do with it."

"Like I would do that!" he shouted back at the salmon haired warlock.

"Oh, you will, because each time I don't get an answer from you I'm going to cut off one of your limbs. I'll start from the fingers and finish with your head." The crimson mist started to swirl around Natsu.

"Shut up!" he yelled and dashed forward to grab the flute.

"Back off, pup! **Senjin no Saiken!**" Natsu's eyes erupted with crimson light.

The dark mage quickly brought up his shadow to protect him, **"Mamorukage!"** The shadow wall was not strong enough to block the attack, Natsu's blow created the explosion that ravaged the entire carriage. A shockwave sent Eisenwald's member crashing into what was left of the carriage's platform.

At the same time Natsu noticed that metallic sphere, which he wanted to examine right before the train moved, started to glow. "What the-?" Natsu felt powerful magic coming from it.

'_Oh no! It's going to explode!'_ Natsu's attention was focused on the sphere so when he noticed that the dark mage extended his shadow and grabbed the flute… It was too late. The sphere exploded, tearing the carriage in half. Natsu remained in the rear part of the train, which started to slow down as it lost its connection with the rest of the locomotive.

"We'll meet again, scum! I promise you'll pay for everything you did to me!" the dark mage yelled angrily as his half of the train disappeared.

'_I'm sure we will, soon enough,'_ the god slayer thought as he watched with narrowed eyes as the dark mage on the train vanished from his sight. A few moments later Natsu noticed something that elicited a dust cloud, approaching him. Several seconds later the god slayer managed to distinguish a **majikku 4-hoīru bīkuru** with Gray as its driver.

"Nice timing guys – let's follow that train!" Natsu shouted as he ran towards the vehicle. He made a sign to Gray that he should not stop and Natsu was going to board the vehicle while it was moving. He did just that as he jumped on the roof of the moving **majikku 4-hoīru bīkuru** like it was nothing special. He leaned over from the roof and climbed into the vehicle's passenger cabin through the window.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Lucy asked in concern. "What happened? I saw several explosions."

Natsu took a seat near Erza, who greatly suffer from motion sickness. As before, he placed her on his lap to serve as a shock absorber for her. She immediately felt a bit better. Then the god slayer answered Lucy: "Yeah, I found one of the Eisenwald's members, a shadow mage. I bet he is responsible for unsealing **Rarabai** and now he has to deliver it to his boss." Natsu said as he slightly opened forward window so Gray could hear them too. "However, when I was about to interrogate him something exploded – I bet that was one of Reina's toys."

"Did you at least see what this Lullaby thing was?" Gray asked from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I'm sure I did. I felt very specific magic inside it, also that guy was very protective towards it," Natsu explained as he remembered the feeling inside his left arm. "It looked like a flute with a skull on one end of it. A skull with three eyes"

"What? That's gross," Gray commented.

"A flute with a three eyed skull?..." Lucy asked slowly as she stared into space.

"Hey Lucy, what's up?" Sin asked as he watched the girl shiver a little.

"No…can't be…" Lucy murmured to herself. "It's just a made up story… but…" She raised her head and looked at Natsu. "If that flute is a **cursed song**… Lullaby… sleep… death…" Lucy's face was distorted with fear. "Natsu, that flute is the **Rarabai**! The **Shi no Mahō**!"

"I know," the god slayer nodded. "I felt the source of this magic, and Erza felt it too. This is why we decided to leave someone aboard the train," Natsu said as Erza gave barely noticeable nod.

"I've only read about it in a book… Among different types of **Kindan no Mahō** there is such a thing as "**Korosu Noroi**" right?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah… just like the name, it'll curse the target... and cast "Death." It's a black magic… Ouuu… Can we stop… for a second?" Erza moaned as Natsu hugged her tighter.

"Sorry my love, not now," he kissed her cheek.

"**Rarabai** is much worse than simple curse magic…" Lucy started to explain.

* * *

At the same time, Magnolia town, Fairy Tail.

"Here you go nee-chan, a message bird," Elfman said as he hand over a small blue bird.

"Thank you," she replied as she gave a small magic letter to the bird and let it go.

"What's in this letter?" Elfman asked.

"Oh, it's a report to the master about Natsu and Erza, and that they both decided to help Gray with the mission." Mirajane answered with a somewhat cunning smile.

* * *

Year 784, July 8th, 12:15 PM, Kunugi station

The train was at the station when several dozens of dark mages came to the platform and started to board the train.

"Get all of the guests and the driver off the train. Eisenwald is taking over, kill anyone who tries to resist," Erigor shouted as he looked over the train. Eisenwald's members stormed into the train and started to throw out its passengers through doors and windows along with their luggage. As Erigor examined the train, he noticed that the last carriage was almost destroyed. A man jumped from the train and started walking towards him. He appeared to be a quite battered Kageyama.

"I heard you were gonna come back on this train so we've been waiting for you Kageyama, but looking at the destruction… Did something happen?" Erigor asked with slight concern.

"Let's talk about it later. First, here!" Kageyama said as he pull out a flute from his internal pocket. "I managed to lift the seal somehow," he said with evil smirk.

"Whoa…" Some of Eisenwald's members exclaimed.

"So this is the forbidden **Rarabai**?" Erigor said as he grabbed the flute from his subordinate's hands and started to examine it, ignoring Kageyama's "new" haircut and his battered condition.

"This was originally nothing but a tool used for death curses… But the great black wizard Zeref transformed it even further into a demon flute. All those who hear the sound of it have the life sucked out of them. The mass-death curse magic, Lullaby!" Erigor explained flute's background as he boarded the train. "C'mon, Reina should be there already! Let's begin the operation!" Erigor shouted, cheering for his guildmates.

* * *

Spell List:

**Kemuri Mahō** – Smoke Magic

**Pāpuru Furea** – Purple Flame

**Teiku Ōbā: Bīsuto Sōru** – Take Over: Beast Soul

**Hikari Hude** – Light Brush

**Seirei Madōshi** – Stellar Spirit Mage

**majikku 4-hoīru bīkuru** – Magical four-wheel vehicle

**Rarabai** – Lullaby

**Shinukami no Erigor** – God of Death Erigor

**Ginjitsushi no Reina** – Silver Arts Master Reina

******Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Mamorukage** – Protection Shadow

**Shi no Mahō** – Death Magic

**Kindan no Mahō** – Forbidden Magic

**Korosu Noroi** – Killing Curse

* * *

Well, that's it!

I think you may have some questions – feel free to ask in review section, I'll try to answer them all =)

Oh, this chapter was originally called "**Damned and Denied**", yeah… I decided that it's to early for that name. This is the name for the next chapter. See you people, as always – write **REVIEWS**!


	5. Damned and Denied

Hi people! Here I am again with the new chapter!

Thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really appreciate your time.

Some answers:

**abhishekunnikm**: Yeah I know, not everyone likes my style of writing romance. But this is my style – turbulent emotions and much passion. =)

**Silent Reader 6100**: Thanks =)

**Ashcrow Knight**: Man, trust me – I'm perfectly aware of frustration that bad grammar may cause. I'm trying to find a beta reader for my stories for about three months. But most of the people who agreed to help me appeared to be busy and worked too slow, or just disappeared without saying anything.

As soon as I manage to find someone who will check my chapters faster than I'm writing them, grammar and spelling will be improved.

**Orchamus** Actually Erza got **Flame** dragon slayer magic, not **Fire** =) (Think of flame dragon from chapter 328 as a teacher) Why I decided to use "Flame" instead of "Fire"? You'll see soon =)

Everyone else – many thanks people, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

Few things about Erza: As many of you already guessed – I made her a dragon slayer. Why I decided to do it? Because I like explosions and her native magic is not explosive enough. And I love dragon slayer magic =) Also I wanted to make her suffer from motion sickness xD… Damn, it seems that I'm some kind of a sadist… I like this red-haired girl so I made her suffer? Oh my…

* * *

**Chapter V – Damned and Denied**

…

Clover town, Guildmasters League meeting hall. July 8, 12:00.

Inside of a large, emasculate brick building, guild masters from miles around are in their regular meeting ongoing. Makarov was sitting on one of the tables, drinking and talking with the other guild masters as they continued their meeting, his face was a bit red from all the alcohol he had already drank. The fat man, whose looks is impossible to describe by few words, came to Makarov's table. It was Bob, Master of the Blue Pegasus guild.

"Makarov, it sure must be nice to have all your little wizardies so pepped up." Bob said as he moved around table with excited look. "Oh, I heard that you gave some aristocrat a good trashing, something about your new member."

"Oh, that was my newest recruit, Lucy. She's great!" Makarov answered as he looked at his colleagues by half-drunk sight "What a boyoyoing figure she's got!"

"Stop it, old goat!" You can't talk about your subordinates like this!" Bob commented as he waved off Makarov's perverted words. "As far as I know – she was on a mission with that lovely guy who was in the magazine last week."

"Yeah, it's some kind of our guild's tradition – Natsu took her for the tutorial mission" Makarov confirmed with proud look "I hope she will get used to our guild's lifestyle quite fast, Natsu is a perfect exemplar!" He added with careless laugh.

"Is this something to be laughing about, Makarov?" Asked man with a spiky collar around his neck – the master of the Quatro Cerberus guild, Goldmine. "Yeah it's great they're energetic, but they go way overboard. There are people on the council who're worried that Fairy Tail's gonna crush an entire city one day, you know."

"I'd like to be crushed… by Lucy's boobs, that's it!" Exclaimed Makarov with lighthearted smile as he raised chicken leg above his head. "Besides, there is no way something like this could happen – destroying an entire town is too much, even for Natsu… at least for now…" Makarov's grin faded a little before his attention was taken away when he heard a tiny voice calls out.

"Master Makarov, Master Makarov!" A little blue bird wearing a purple hat chirped as it stopped right in front of the old man. "I have a letter from Ms. Mirajane for you sir!" The bird said as it handed the letter to Makarov.

"Ahh…Thanks." He said as he activated the letter and a small magic seal appeared over the envelope with a miniature image of Mirajane on top of it.

"Master, hard at work at your regular meeting, yes?" Lil Mirajane said as Makarov began showing her off to the other guild masters.

"What do you think? This here's our poster-girl! Quite a looker, eh?!" Exclaimed Makarov with enthusiastic look.

"Oh my…" Several peoples said simultaneously.

"Little Mirajane, huh? She sure looks like she's grown up…" Goldmine said with his arms crossed.

"Actually, something incredible happened while you were gone!" Mira said with excited look "As we had guessed – Natsu and Erza really are dating. Just yesterday they announced their relationships to entire guild! However, it's not all! It appeared that they are already engaged, wedding is planned for October, 13! Whole guild is invited!" Somehow things become quiet around Makarov's table.

Mirajane continued "Also they said that they are going to form a permanent team! As their first mission they both going to help Gray with the task which you had discussed earlier! Doubtlessly, this is the most powerful team Fairy Tail ever had!" As Mirajane continued to speak Makarov's face grew paler and paler as his body was sweating all over. "I figured I should report this, so I wrote you a letter. Talk to you later, good luck at the meeting master!" Lil Mirajane said and disappeared.

"A-are y-you kidding me!?" Makarov exclaimed in shock and fear as he became completely white. He stood for a few seconds staring into space before he collapsed on his back.

"Makarov! What happened?" Several peoples asked as they came closer to check Fairy Tail master's condition.

"It seems those worries might actually come to pass, oy…" Goldmine said as he watched Makarov's fall.

Okay, this old man is not a fool. He guessed that Natsu and Erza are dating and mentally he was prepared to face the inevitable. But wedding?! Already planned?! And permanent team?! And now they are going to help Gray?! Together?!

'_Goodness gracious… Natsu, Erza and Gray on the same mission?! Either of those two, Natsu or Erza, is bad enough by himself. But two of them at the same team, withal intensified by Gray... THEY REALLY COULD SMASH AN ENTIRE CITY!'_ Makarov thought in a panic before trying to get a hold on himself_ 'The regular meeting will end today and I can go back to the guild tomorrow… Please let nothing happen until then, I'm begging you!_

* * *

Kunugi station, July 8, 13:00.

When Natsu and his team arrived at the cliff just over the station, they watched as the civilians were explaining to the soldiers what had happened. Some people were in a state of panic and others were angry as the knights tried to defuse the situation.

"I could understand getting on a cart or a boat, but a train?" Lucy spoke out in confusion.

"Yeah, it's quite strange, what's the benefit of escaping on a train that can only run on rails?" Gray scratched his cheek as he once again appeared in his boxers.

"It's pretty fast, however" Erza said as she stood outside the vehicle, enjoying these few minutes without motion sickness, though she was slightly dazed.

"Yeah, it seems that those guys from Eisenwald must be in a big hurry for some reason" Natsu guessed. "But at least we can guess their destination – it is somewhere along the railway."

"But the army is already on the move…" Lucy noted several soldiers on the station's platform. "Isn't it only a matter of time until they're caught?"

"It would be nice, if it happens" Erza said as he unwillingly entered the vehicle.

"Look people, I don't wanna be a pessimist here, but this is very unlikely that army could handle a whole dark guild, two dangerous criminals and mass-death curse magic" Natsu stated as he let his fiancé to sit on his lap. "We have to hurry, c'mon" Natsu ordered as Erza let out a painful moan when vehicle moved forward.

* * *

Inside the train, on the span between Kunugi and Oshibana, July 8, 13:42.

"Flies? On this train?" Erigor asked with quite cold voice.

"Yes. He was on the train until minute ago. He attacked me and tried to get the flute, but Reina's sphere exploded and he was able to escape" Kageyama explained with nervous expression on his face, he also misrepresented some facts.

With evil smirk Erigor made two very fast swings by his scythe, wounding Kageyama's ears and scaring several other guild members.

"CYAAAHHH!" Kageyama yelled as he grabbed his slightly incised ears.

"A fly from Fairy Tail? So you let him see the **Rarabai** flute and get away without saying a thing? Yeah, Kageyama?" Erigor asked with disappointed expression.

"It's not like our plan is blown! And even if he did notice, it's not like anyone could stop us now, right?!" Exclaimed scared Kageyama as he fell on his knees.

"Of course" Erigor said as he plunged his scythe right before Kage, scaring him even more "But it is important that we take extra precautions. Do I make myself clear?" Erigor asked, looking at his other subordinates "We are going to put _that_ plan into action"

"So, at Oshibana station…" Rayure said.

"Flies, huh?" Erigor chuckled with dark sight "There are some forests where they really shouldn't be flying around. Teach them all a lesson."

"Yeah!" Several guild members said simultaneously.

* * *

On approach to city of Oshibana, July 8, 14:15. (A/N Word "Oshiba" means "Pressed leaves", so town's name "Oshibana" could be translated as "Herbarium")

Team Natsu's wheeler made a skidding turn as Natsu poured more of his magic into the machine to increase its speed. He took the S.E. plug several minutes ago, reasoning that he can't let anyone from his team to reach the destination without magic powers. Gray remained on driver seat, all he has to do now is watching the road. S.E. plug was conducted inside the vehicle's salon through window.

"Natsu, you are forcing too much magic into the vehicle! It's hard to keep it on the road!" Gray shouted from the driver's seat. "Look, S.E. plug is inflating!"

"Sorry man, but this is unacceptable! If Lucy is right and this flute is really are the **Rarabai**, then we can't afford to waste any time, we need to stop Eisenwald before they decide to play some song!" Natsu replied while he continued to force his magic into the vehicle.

"If we let… this flute to be played… a great number… of innocent people… will be victims… Human lives will end… by the melody of the flute…" Erza moaned scarcely.

"No way could this happen, I swear my love – I won't allow it!" Natsu stated confidently.

"What are we supposed to do when we get there, and you don't have any magical power left to fight?" Gray warned as his vehicle turned another corner.

"Are you kidding me?! I have more than enough to catch up with the Eisenwald and fight against them after it!" Natsu exclaimed resentfully as Erza gave him a barely noticeable smile.

"No… he is right… You will need this magic… in battle… Please… plug me instead…" She asked him.

Natsu attentively looked into her eyes and said "Okay". Then he removed her right glove and placed an S.E. plug on her hand, vehicle's speed remained the same. Looks like even in her current condition she can control a magic flow.

"Are you insane?" Gray asked "Look at her condition! Yet you let her to use magic!"

"I trust her Gray, she knows what she is doing" Natsu answered without delay "Focus on the road"

On the opposite seat Lucy and Sin discussed some of the guild mages. Suddenly Sin said "…by the way, Lucy, I have a strange feeling that I have to say something to you… I can't remember what it is though…"

Lucy looked at him with curious look "To me? What? Is this something important?" She asked, making Sin to nod his bone head before he made a face that showed he was thinking hard about it.

"Try to remember, you're making me curious" Lucy asked.

"I'm trying…" Sin replied. "All I can remember now is that it was something that had something to do with you…hmmm."

As Sin was wandering in his memories Lucy noticed that Natsu whispered something on Erza's ear. She strained her own ears and managed to hear several words. It seems that Natsu is actually… singing for his beloved:

_"…as forever you and I will be together;_

_I'm swo-o-orn!_

_(chorus)_

_We are **damned and denied**;_

_Sanctified with blood and night;_

_And at midnight our souls be unite;_

_We are cursed in the night;_

_Holy lord of war and fight;_

_And at midnight forever we are…"_

'_Oh my God! And she enjoys this weird song?!'_ Lucy thought as she looked at barely smiling Erza. Despite her suffering she really enjoyed that song.

Suddenly, a sound of large explosion echoed throughout the town, making the four mages and magic familiar to look in the direction of the source of this sound; soon they all was able to see a smoke rising up into the sky.

"W-What the hell is that?!" Lucy exclaimed as she stuck her head out the window.

"…I think we just found Eisenwald." Gray said as he turned the wheeler towards the smoke.

"Let's just hope no one is injured or worse…" Natsu thought aloud.

* * *

Oshibana station, July 8, 14:30.

When the team arrived at Oshibana Station, there was huge crowd of people in front of the station building. Most of them tried to find out what is going on as the employees were failing at their attempts to calm them down. Natsu's team got off from the vehicle and moved toward the station through crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please stay back. It is too dangerous at the moment to enter the station!" A station master was speaking through a megaphone while his subordinates were trying to keep the people from forcing their way through. "A train was derailed by an accident, so no one is allowed to go into the station! Until we can confirm the safety inside, the station will be closed to the public!" The station master had finished speaking, but the crowd did not break.

"A train derailed? Really?" Someone from crowd said by skeptical tone.

"I heard rumors that some dangerous guys are holed up in the train station…" Another one said.

"Are you okay?" Natsu asked from Erza, who leaned at his shoulder as he started to push his way through the crowd toward the station master, the others following right behind them.

"I will be in a few minutes… I just need some time to catch my breath…" She answered and tried to smile (without much success).

"But they said the station closed." Lucy said, watching Natsu pushing people out of the way. "Wouldn't it be bad to force our way through?"

"We don't have time to listen to them…" Erza retorted as she managed to recover a bit.

"Besides, we are not going to "force" our way into the station" Natsu winked to Lucy "We are here for the mission, so they should not try to stop us." He then addressed to Erza "Can you stand?"

"Yes" She answered simply as she kissed Natsu's cheek and removed her hand from his shoulder.

"Let me do a little talk then" He smiled, looking into her eyes and moved toward station master. "We are here on behalf of the magic council, report." Natsu demanded answer by quiet but firm voice.

"Y… yes sir!" Station master answered as he saluted to Natsu. "The station was captured by the large group of unknown terrorists. We do not know their intentions and they did not put forward any demands yet. As far as we know there are no civilians inside the station building. A military platoon entered the building few minutes ago but we lost contact with them" Station master finished his report.

"We are here on behalf of the council? Really?" Lucy wondered.

"Of course not, Lucy, don't be silly" Sin answered ironically.

"Can't say I like this method, but I also can't deny its efficiency" Gray commented as he again stripped to his boxers.

"Why'd you strip?" Lucy blinked.

"Okay, I'm going into the building with my team, try to keep civilians as far as possible" Natsu ordered to the station master before returning to his team.

"I heard everything, nice work" Erza whispered to Natsu as he came close. "Eisenwald is inside the building, a few army units entered the station earlier however none of them have come back yet." She informed the others. "Come on, we have to hurry".

* * *

"It's very likely that military platoon engaged Eisenwald in battle" Erza guessed as team was running through station's main hall. Knight-mage was running first, looks like she knows where to go somehow.

They soon came across a number of troops that were lying unconscious and obviously defeated in violent battle, spread across the floor and stairway.

"Look, the military! They've been wiped out!" Lucy exclaimed by scared voice.

"An army platoon hardly stood a chance, they were up against an entire guild. Every single one of them are wizards" Erza said as she clenched her fists.

"Do not relent! Eisenwald will pay for this!" Natsu shouted as he followed his fiancé.

"Don't worry Lucy they'll be fine" Sin said as he landed on blonde's shoulder.

"C'mon, we almost at the platform" Gray urged the team.

The group soon made it to a large room where they saw the entire Eisenwald guild waiting for them.

"I knew you'd come. You Fairy Tail Flies!" Erigor snickered, staring down at Team Natsu with quite arrogant smirk. Whole Eisenwald guild stood behind him, near the hijacked train. "We've been waiting for you…"

"Look at how many there are!" Lucy exclaimed as her eyes moved back and forth to each ends of the large group of dark wizards.

"So you're Erigor, I take it? You bastard!" Gray shouted angrily as he clenched his fists.

"Hey look! That's the guy from the other day…" Byard said as he got a good look at Gray "Now he is dressed though…"

"I see, so it was you who leaked out our plan." Karakka stated as he looked at Gray.

"Flies… It's all because of you! It's your fault master Erigor did this to me" Kageyama growled in anger as his hands drifted to his bandaged ears, which was still hurt.

"You have to calm down Kage-chan." A Rayule told him from behind.

"So, we meet again…" Natsu gaze shifted to see Kageyama holding his bandaged ears as he glared at him. "That's the guy I met on the train… but I'm sure I did not touched his ears…_"_

"What are you scoundrels after? Depending on your answer, I might have to make you pay for it!" Erza demanded answer as her magic powers started to build up. Erigor's evil smile became wider.

"Oh, you know, we just wanted to fool around" Erigor said, making whole his guild to laugh. "We've got no job and we're really bored" The shinigami said as he used his** Kaze Mahō** to soar in the air.

"He flew!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

"That's **Kaze Mahō**" Sin explained.

"Did not you understand yet?" Erigor asked as he landed on top of one of the speaker of station's broadcasting system. "What do they have inside the train station?" His obvious hint made Erza's eyes to burn with bright-yellow flame as Natsu's eyes erupted crimson light.

"Are you going to broadcasting the song of **Rarabai** through station's speaker system?" Erza growled in anger.

"There are hundreds… no, thousands of people, gathering around this station now. If we broadcast it loud enough, maybe even the entire town will hear… the melody of death." Erigor explained with loud laugh.

"What's the benefit you could possibly get by killing thousands of innocent people?" Natsu asked, barely containing his fury.

"We are simply cleaning up. Those fools who live their lives, enjoying their _rights_… not knowing that there are people who have been revoked of their rights. Their sin is living without knowing that this world isn't just. And so… the Shinigami has come to punish them! A punishment called "Death!" Erigor shouted.

"You're not going to get your rights back by doing something like this!" Lucy shouted making Erigor smirk.

"Now that we've come this far, we don't want _rights_ anymore. We seek _authority_, the power! If we have _authority_, we can simply wipe off the past and control the future!" Erigor replied, showing the flute to team Natsu.

"Authority?" Natsu growled as large amount of crimson energy started to swirl around him. "I'll show you the real authority…"

Whole building started to shake from Natsu's power as large half-transparent figure appeared behind the God slayer. The female figure, about fifteen meters in height. She was dressed in black shirt and shorts, chainmail gloves, elbow pads, knee pads and boots. Her chest and shoulders too were protected by chainmail armor. Her eyes were glowing by crimson light. She was extremely beautiful, especially her long and luxury pink hairs.

"This… is…" Lucy stuttered.

"Yes, this is she. The supreme goddess of war – Morrigan" Erza confirmed Lucy's guess.

Whole Eisenwald guild looked at apparition in shock… except Erigor.

"Erigor, I'm getting tired of your flights. Don't you know – the sky belongs to the Dragons and heavens belong to the Gods and their beloved. Nonentities like you should crawl on the ground!" Natsu shouted and prepared to cast a spell, but…

"So, the infamous son of Morrigan in flesh came to our little party… I'm flattered" Woman's voice called from the Eisenwald member's crowd. "Long time no see, Natsu-kun…"

"Reina…" Natsu said with narrowed eyes as Morrigan's apparition disappeared.

Quite tall woman, dressed in long red dress, with long green hairs and same colored eyes appeared in front of the Eisenwald's members.

"I have to say that I'm surprised to see you among these scams, Reina. Mass-murder… it's not quite your style…" Natsu said as he examined his old acquaintance.

"Times change, Natsu-kun… And people too. You, for example, become much more handsome than you were two years ago…" She smiled as her compliment toward Natsu made his fiancé to growl a little.

"Do you know her?" Erza asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, as I told you earlier – she is well known among bounty hunters. Two years ago I came to the Harujeon to capture her, but revealed myself due to lack of experience and she managed to escape aboard one of the ships. But this won't happen again…" Natsu promised. "You too had grown up, Reina, especially the bounty for your head. And this time, I'm going to collect it…"

"Catch the bear before you sell his skin, Natsu-kun" Reina smirked.

'_You've fallen into our trap, Fairy Tail. We had to spice things up here and there… But now it's back to our original plan. There is someone who has to hear the melody of the flute… Someone I must put to death!' _Erigor thought with victorious look.

"Reina, c'mon. We have to hurry, let's play some music!" Shinigami shouted as he flew out of the station hall through window.

"See you soon guys!" Reina smiled as silver surfboard appeared beneath her feet and she followed the Erigor. When Reina was already outside the window she shouted "Rest is up to you guys. Let them see how fearsome a dark guild really is!"

"Damn, I hate flying insects…" Natsu hissed as had no chance to hit any of those two from such a distance while they are in mid-air.

"We have to go after them!" Erza shouted as she and her team watched at the broken window. "Those two need to be stopped before they have a chance to broadcast the curse!"

"You're not going anywhere!" Kageyama spoke up as a magic seal appeared under him. "You won't get to see the new Dark Age because you're heading to the afterlife!" Shadow mage launched several shadow tendrils at the group along the floor.

"We have no time for this idiocy!" Nastu shouted as he extended his arms forward and generate a crimson energy between their palms, before unleashing it in the form of a powerful energy stream towards the opponent. "I'm going to send all of you into oblivion! **Senjin no Yōsuhō!**" A broad, powerful beam of energy flew forward and easily destroyed the tendrils before making contact with many of the dark mages and producing a powerful blast, sending them flying into different directions.

"Way to go Natsu" Sin commented.

"Do not relax, we still have more of them to deal with." Erza said as she stared at the remaining dark mages who managed to avoid Natsu's spell. "With so many of them we won't be able to catch up with Erigor and Reina in time…" Erza said with concerned voice.

"Then we will split up. Gray, we are going to search the building to find Reina and Erigor…" Natsu pointed at the crowd "…and these fools are looking at our girls with too much lust, let them to become better acquainted" Natsu said with evil smirk.

"You just read my mind" Erza smiled.

"W-wait, you want to leave two of us here?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock and fear.

"Hey, I'm here too!" Sin exclaimed resentfully.

"We'll be fine." Erza responded before looking at them with a serious look. "After we deal with them we will join you in search, but if we don't hurry then a lot of innocent people could be in danger. Now please, go!"

"Love you, be careful" Natsu said as he looked into Erza's eyes before running off along with Gray, leaving Erza, Lucy and Sin to face the dark guild.

"Hey, they are running away!" shouted one of the dark mages.

"Leave them to me!" Rayule shouted as he released a bunch of black wrappings out of his sleeves and climbed at the second floor's balcony. "I am, the great Rayule, will bring them down!"

"I'll go too!" Kageyama grunted as he rose to a kneeling position, he activated a magic seal before disappearing into the shadows. "I won't forgive that sakura-head!"

"Oh boy, Rayule and Kage are so belligerent… I bet it's more fun to play with the girls than those guys…" Byard said with concerned look.

"It's all for the plan. They are much more respectable than you" Karakka answered emotionlessly.

"After we clean up these guys, we're heading after them, too" Erza said to Lucy, keeping her eye at the dark guild members.

"O…okay, but… two girls against this many?" Lucy stuttered in fear.

"What can two girls do… both of them are gorgeous though." One of the dark wizards sneered.

"Too bad we have to kill them…" Another one said with stupid smile.

"How about we catch and sell them" Third one suggested. To this moment Erza already smoked from rage.

"Wait until we get to see the fairies strip show…" Fourth stated with hearts in his eyes.

"But we're so cute… You wouldn't dare…" Lucy said as stars shines around her.

"Lucy, get a hold on yourself!" Sin yelled at her.

"Silence idiots! One more stupid smile and I'll drown you in blood!" Erza shouted as she stuck her hand out in front of her when a red magic seal appeared. A bright glowing object erupted from the seal and fell into Erza's hand after the glow disappeared. Erza held in her arm a long sword with the shining blade and wing-decorated hilt. "Pathetic trash, I'll show you your place!"

"Here we go again… Natsu's behavior…" Sin mumbled.

"A sword appeared from nowhere!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise as Erza took the battle stance "A magic sword!"

"That's not so rare! We have a lot of **Ken no Mahō** users here, too! We'll just strip that armor off of you!" Several of dark wizards shouted as they charged at Erza with different weapons in their hands. Erza stood calm and silently, watching the dark mages approaching her; as soon as the wizards got close enough she rushed toward them and swung her sword with such power and speed that it destroyed all of the dark wizard's weapons. Dark mages themselves get several wounds and were sent flying across the hallway. Erza did not stopped as she quickly moved with another charge and stormed right into the large crowd and started to wipe out the Eisenwald wizards.

Another swing and several more dark mages fell on the ground with bloody wounds. Erza's attacks were fast, precise and deadly.

"Now I'm understood how Natsu managed to improve his sword skill so quickly during last few months…" Sin noted as dark mages continued to fly apart, battered and defeated.

"Damn bitch! Taste my Rasengan!" Another wizard shouted as he and two others started to prepare some ranged spells. Erza noticed this and rushed toward them as her sword started to glow and turning into a long spear.

"Spear?!" Lucy asked in shock.

She landed a quick blow by her spear sending mages, which tried to use ranged spell at her, crashing into the wall. She landed one more blow as she flipped backwards into the air and transformed her weapon again as she pulled the glowing object apart and as she landed, the glowing weapons turned into twin swords and she struck a couple more enemies down with ease.

"And twin swords this time!" Byard said with a sweatdrop.

To this moment Erza's twin blades turned into large two-handed axe and she wiped out several more dark guild members.

"Axe!" Karacka said to Byard in shock.

"This woman… How can she ex-equip her weapons so fast?!" Several of the Eisenwald's members shouted.

"Ex-equip?" Lucy asked, tilting her head in confusion as she overheard their voices.

"It's called **Kansō** Lucy, it is similar to your **Seirei Mahō**, when someone uses **Kansō** they can call out weapons that are stored in an alternate space" Sin started to explain. "And Erza got a quite amount of different weapons, stored in her magic space. We call that procedure to switch between weapons: ex-equip"

'_I think now I'm understood why Natsu loves her so much. She is beautiful, her magic is elegant and powerful… Her only huge oddness is her personality but it seems he like it too… Mira-san was right – they are perfect pair' _Lucy thought as she watched in awe how Erza smashed another group of enemies.

"Wonderful…" Lucy whispered.

"Not yet Lucy, actually Erza's just getting warmed up" Sin smirked.

_'Did that… thing just said Erza?'_ Karakka's eyes widen as he overheard Sin's words.

Erza stopped her assault to look at the remaining Eisenwald's forces "There are still so many left… That a pain in the ass… I'll just wipe you out at once!" As soon as Erza finished speaking, her armor started to coming off with glowing smoke circling around her.

"Whoa! Her armor's coming off!" Several dark mages shouted simultaneously.

"Uhhh youu!" Others yelled.

"W-What's going on?" Lucy asked.

"**Ken no Mahō** users usually fight by ex-equipping different weapons" Sin continued to explain as Lucy watched in awe as the magic glow faded and Erza appeared in new, quite revealing armor. It was now made of a silvery metal, with four large metal wings on her back and with a sword in each hand. "But Erza increased her own abilities, she can fight while ex-equipping different magic armor sets as well. That's Erza's magic. It's called **Za Naito**!"

"Whoa!" Lucy shouted with widened eyes and a little blush on her cheeks.

"Woooaaahhh!" Some of the enemies cheered with a hearts inside their eyes.

"Dance, my blades!" Erza used the ability of her **Tenrin no Yoroi** as many swords appeared around her in a circle formation, spinning around her. Next moment she unleashed the attack at the rest of the Eisenwald guild: "**Tenrin: Junkan no Ken!**"

Powerful blow hit most of the remaining Eisenwald members, sending them flying across the hall.

"Whoa, she wiped most of them out in a single blow!" Lucy exclaimed in awe. "I think I'm gonna fall in love with her…"

"Lucy, watch out!" Ezra suddenly yelled as she noticed that the last group of Eisenwald's members tried to attack Lucy, who was too fascinated by Erza's magic.

"Eh?" Stellar mage noticed danger too late to do something.

"**Enryū no Hōkō!**" Stream of white-yellow flame burst from Erza's mouth toward enemies, creating huge fireball, which exploded at the contact with the enemies and sent them flying with major burns.

"What?!" Lucy was shocked again… and Sin too was surprised, this time.

"You bitch! I'll be your opponent!" Byard shouted as he rushed toward Erza with his hands cowered by magic glow. But Erza just watched at him with apathetic sight before rising her fist "**Enryū no Kōken!**" She landed a powerful blow, which exploded, sending Byard flying through whole station hall, smashing him into hijacked train.

"There is no doubt! She is the strongest woman in Fairy Tail – The Fairy Queen: Erza the Titania!" Karakka yelled in horror as he watched Byard made a hole in the train's carriage. He was too focused on Byard's flight and did not noticed that Erza appeared right in front of him with two streams of fire from her hands "**Enryū no Yokugeki!**" She swung these streams at the Karakka, blowing him away with massive burns.

"Damn, I tried to hold this magic as a trump card, but it's so tempting to use it…" Erza mumbled to herself.

"What is this magic? It seems somehow similar to Natsu's…" Lucy asked.

"I have… no idea" Sin admitted. "I never saw this magic before"

"This magic is a gift from my Natsu" Erza stated proudly, as a dragon slayer of course she overheard Lucy and Sin's conversation.

'_Your Natsu?'_ Lucy thought.

"This was his gift in honor of our engagement. I did not asked for anything – his love is more than enough for me… But you know Natsu – he loves to overdo things" Erza started to explain. Lucy noted how dreamy became her eyes and how affectionate became her voice when she spoke about God slayer. "Along with the wedding ring he gave me an ancient grimoire which contains a teaching of **Metsuryū Mahō**. This type of magic is similar to Natsu's own **Metsujin Mahō**, however, **Metsuryū Mahō** intended to fight against dragons instead of gods."

"Dragons?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"So, it lets you obtain all the qualities of a dragon?" Sin guessed.

"Yep, qualities of the flame dragon in my case. Dragon's lungs to breathe flame, a dragon's scales to dissolve flames and dragon's claws to wrap in flames. It's called **En no Metsuryū Mahō**. Of course, learning magic from a book is not as effective as from an actual dragon, and to compensate it I got a Dragon Lacrima implanted into my body. The special lacrima which contain a part of the soul of ancient flame dragon. It seems that grimoire and lacrima are one set…"

Lucy listened with saucer-wide eyes. Dragons?! Dragon Lacrima?! Part of dragon's soul?! Dragon slayer magic?! Oh, it's just too much for her. She had just got used to the fact that Gods could teach humans their magic, and now it appears that dragons could do the same?

"…it's an extremely rare and pricy stuff. I tried to refuse but he threatened me to deprive me of pleasures of love… nasty boy, how could I refuse in that situation? Oh, his stubbornness and resourcefulness are so sexy…" Erza continued to talk with dreamy face.

"Okay Erza, we understood, you don't have to tell us about your private relationships" Sin interrupted her as Lucy gulped a bit from unexpectedly frank comment.

"Oh, sorry guys…" Erza's cheeks blushed a little as she understood that she blurted out too much. "However, I'm asking you two to keep the knowledge about my new magic in secret for a while, will you?" Erza asked, sending at Lucy and Sin her signature glare.

"Of course, it won't be a problem!" Lucy and Sin assured her simultaneously.

"Thanks" Scarlet-haired girl smiled. "Now, help me to tie up these guys so we can safely leave them here and join Natsu and Gray in search for Erigor and Reina. But first I have to do some announcement to the public…"

"Um?" Lucy wondered.

* * *

Natsu and Gray were currently running down through stone hallway, keeping an eye out for any signs of Reina or Erigor.

"Something here is not convergent…" Natsu muttered as he runs along ice mage.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked.

"I mean that things what I know about Reina does not fit here. She has an impressive list of crimes, but murder never was among them. I think there is something more… ah, never mind that, in any case we should find her fast." Natsu waved off his own doubts.

"By the way, Natsu, don't mind my asking but why did you started to date with Erza all of a sudden? She's not an… exemplar… of womanhood, you know…" Gray asked, carefully choosing words.

Natsu chuckled "Yep, she is not, but I don't need it… As you know, I have a capability to distinguish human's souls. When I saw her for the first time I was fascinated by the beauty of her soul. Strong, brave, kind, tender – it's impossible to describe it by words. I was just too young and foolish back then to properly recognize and express my feelings..." Natsu shook his head. "Let's talk about it later, right now we have a job to do."

"Speaking of job…" Gray said as two of them stopped when they saw the hallway split into two different directions. "I guess we will have to split up." Gray said making Natsu nod his head. Gray took the hallway to the left, which was marked "Old line" while Natsu took the one on the right, which was marked "New line". However before Gray could start moving, God slayer's voice called out.

"Gray…" The ice mage turned to Natsu, who looked straight at him "…Reina got massive bounty for her capturing for a reason. Her magic is strong and she is cunning, so if you will run into her – be careful…" Reina's image appeared inside Natsu's mind.

"It's not only she Natsu… also we're up against an idiot who's trying to let loose some seriously dangerous magic here… so if you find him, give him a trashing" Gray grinned at the last words.

"Same wishes to you Gray" Natsu answered as he returned Gray's grin "Let's teach them to not picking a fight with Fairy Tail!" Natsu exclaimed as he started running along the corridor toward newer part of the station.

Gray headed to opposite direction, but after he made several tens of steps he stopped as his sight fell on one of station's speakers. _'Wait a minute… if he was planning on broadcasting the **Rarabai**'s melody… then I should check that place first!'_ Gray thought as he rushed toward the broadcast booth.

"This is it" Gray said to himself as he approached to the booth and quickly kicked door down, destroying it in the process. When he walked inside, Gray saw that room is filled with different broadcasting equipment all around the broadcasting booth but there was no living person inside. "Why is he not here? This is the only room to make such a broadcast… Wait… It's strange that he is not here… Does that mean Natsu was right and everything is not that simple? He never planned to broadcast anything in the first place…" Gray thought aloud as he walked to the center of the broadcast cabin.

As Gray continued to examine the cabin, large black wrappings shot towards him from the ceiling. Gray managed to notice the threat at the last moment and successfully leaped out of the way. He landed near wall, looking around.

"You… I knew you'd come here… Your instinct is too good. You'll be a nuisance to our plan" A voice said as Gray looked up at the ceiling to see the dark mage who descended from the ceiling hatch, his black wrappings squirming around in his hands. "But this does not matter. You can't possibly comprehend the full greatness of our plan!" Rayule said with a smirk as Gray smiled a little.

"So there _really_ is something going on, huh?" Gray asked with a grin as he prepared for combat "Geez… and you were complaining about not having any real work to do…"

* * *

Oshibana station, July 8, 15:10.

Huge crowd of people stood outside the station, anxiously talking among themselves.

"What's going on inside?"

"Military personnel went in, but they haven't come back out yet…"

"Have they been defeated by the terrorists?"

"By the way, the wind's really strong today…"

"Look! Someone's coming out!" Shouted someone as he saw scarlet-haired woman walking down the stairs to the balcony.

"You! You are the one of those council agents! What's going on inside?!" Station master inquired but he got no response. Erza came close to him and roughly snatched the megaphone from his hands. She came close to balcony's fence and began to speak.

"If you value your lives, get away from here immediately! The station has been taken over by evil wizards! Area around the station is not safe!" The dragon-knight's words made all the civilians to become silent and stood still as she continued to speak from the balcony. "Those dark mages are attempting to perform a magic that will kill every person here! Evacuate as far away from here as you can!" She finished, causing chaos as everyone began running away in panic.

"Hey you! Why did you make everyone panic like that?" Station master asked Erza as she dropped the megaphone on the floor. She looked at him and his subordinates for a moment before speaking.

"What I just said is the truth. It's better than to see them die. Of course we are doing our best to prevent it, but we can't guarantee your safety, so it's best for you to evacuate too" Erza said by steady voice, but her statement left no room for arguing. Station's employees were scared and quickly left, it seems that they have no intentions to take any chances.

'_The **Rarabai**… A forbidden magic that kills whoever is exposed to its melody… Erigor is planning to commit a mass-murder using that. But now there is almost no one here, it'll be meaningless to use the flute. Well… how would he react?... EH?'_ Erza thought as she suddenly felt dramatic strengthening of wind. When she turned her head, Erza's eyes widened as she saw what whole station is encased into huge tornado. "What?! The station is being surrounded by wind?!" Erza asked in surprise "What's going on here?"

* * *

(Inside the station, with Gray)

"Raaagh!" Rayule shouted as he shot his black wrappings towards Gray at a great speed causing the Ice mage to leap away once again before the black wrappings made contact. "No one can escape from my Urumi! I'll kill anyone who gets in the way of our plan!" He shouted before sending another wave of black wrappings at Gray.

"Really? I'm pretty sure I'm did just that" Gray answered with a grin as he dodged another assault. "Plan or whatever, if you want to broadcast the melody of the flute, this is the only place to do it. If Erigor, who has a **Rarabai**, isn't here, why did you occupy the station?" Gray inquired.

Instead of answer Rayule once again tried to hit Gray by his Urumi. Ice mage dodged it and black wrappings smashed the broadcasting equipment. _'He destroyed the broadcasting equipment without hesitation! They don't plan to broadcast the **Rarabai** after all!_' Gray thought as he watched the equipment turned into junk.

"Let's see how long you will be able to avoid from my attacks!" Reyule shouted as he attempted another assault.

"…This started to become annoying…" Gray said as he stood into his stance with one palm open and the other hand in a fist lying on top of the palmed hand.**"Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo!"** Shouted ice mage and large sunflower-like shield made of ice appeared in front of Gray in an instant. The black wrappings slammed into the shield without making any damage to it as Gray stood behind his creation.

"**Kōri mahō**?! Heh" Rayule smirked, looks like he was not impressed too much.

"What is your real plan?" Gray asked as his shield disappeared.

"It's about time that Erigor-san's **Mafū Heki** forms…" Reyule said as he stopped his attacks toward Gray for a moment.

"**Mafū Heki**?" Gray was confused a bit.

"It's a wind barrier to keep you guys from leaving this place" Reyule explained with evil smile.

"What?!" Gray shouted as he was unpleasantly surprised.

* * *

(Outside the station, with Erza)

"How's this possible? Is it a… wind barrier of some sort? Hmm, Erigor?" Erza asked, slowly turning around. She managed to hear him even through noise of wind from **Mafū Heki**.

"You noticed me?" Erigor was a bit surprised that Erza spotted him without even looking around. "So, you're the one who made the bystanders run away…" Shinigami floated above her, looking at dragon-knight mage with a smug look on his face.

"Did you do this?!" Erza demanded answer.

"You know, Titania, I wanted to fight the Fairy Queen just once… But unfortunately, I don't have time for that right now" He said as he created a wind gust and sent it toward Erza. She raised her hands to block the attack, but force of the wind pushed her inside the barrier. "Just stay inside and be a good girl"

"How dare you!..." Erza shouted as she tried to punch the wind wall by her right elbow. But wind just ripped to shreds her metal glove, damaged her arm and threw her back.

"Don't even try… This magic wall of wind is one-way: you can only pass from outside to inside." Erigor commented as he watched Erza's attempt to get out.

"May I add some silver into this wind?" Reina's voice asked from outside. Few moments later Erza noticed that several tens, may be even hundreds of metal spheres merged with the wind and started to swirl around the station.

"Erigor! Reina! What are you doing?!" Erza yelled her question.

"It's a birdcage… Or rather, a flycage… Though, it's a little too big for that" Erigor laughed.

"Erigor, thanks to these idiots we wasted quite a lot of time, c'mon we have to go" Reina said.

"Farewell!" Erigor shouted before he and Reina disappeared into the air.

'_Damn… this is what I got for being too talkative…'_ Erza thought as she clenched her wounded fist. _'This station isn't their real target…'_

* * *

(Inside the station, with Gray)

Gray once again stood into his stance "**Aisu Meiku: Nakkuru!**" He threw several magic spheres right beneath Reyule's feet, creating a large glowing circle underneath dark mage, which turned into several large ice fists that shot towards Rayule. The ice fists all made contact with the target simultaneously as they slammed into Rayule's body and sent the dark wizard crashing through some machines and stone wall into the next room. Gray followed after him and went through the hole into the next room, keeping an eye on slightly dazed Rayule. "I hate complicated stories, so just tell me what's going on. You're not going to broadcast **Rarabai**'s melody using the speaker system… Then what your guild really intended to do?"

"We trapped the flies in here because you guys came out of nowhere." Rayule explained with a smirk. "Originally we occupied this station to block off all transportation access to Clover station, the last stop. That town is on the other side of a huge ravine, and there's no transportation other than this train… Unless, of course, you can fly like Reina or Erigor."

"So that's where you're going to use **Rarabai**?! Why?" Gray demanded an answer but Rayule just smirked.

"Try and recall… You know what's at Clover station, aren't you?" Rayule answered as his black Urumi began to silently make its way from his hand. "An opening!" Dark mage shouted as his black wrappings shot out at Gray, who wasn't able to dodge from the close-range attack and bought his arms up to block it. The force of the blow sent Gray into the air, as he flipped his body and landed back on the ground, Gray's eyes went wide he figured out what Rayule was talking about.

'_Clover… That's the town where the old men are having their regular meeting!'_ Gray thought angrily as he glared at the dark mage who was against him. "Your true objectives are the guild masters?!"

"So you've finally noticed? A bit slow on the uptake, are we?" Rayule shouted with a contented smirk as he saw the rage in Gray's eyes. Rayule charged forward and hit Ice wizard again with the black wrappings while Gray blocked his attack once more.

"You're doing a pretty outrageous thing against geezers with powerful magic, don't you think?" Ice mage asked as he blocked another attack.

"Playing the flute for geezers who are unaware of what's going to happen should be easy. I'm sure Erigor and Reina can do it just fine on their own." Rayule charged again while **Zōkei Madōshi** stood still as the attack hit, Gray didn't even take a step to avoid the attack. "Besides, people like you guys who are in our way can't leave this station! Yep, that means no one can stop us now!" Rayule said as his black wrapping now wrapped around Gray's body, trapping the Ice wizard. "We're taking revenge for the oppression we had in the past! Everything will disappear into thin air!" Dark mage was a bit carried away.

"Eisenwald… You are fools… Every one of you… You cannot even imagine with what forces you are facing" Gray said, the tone of his voice made a shiver go up Rayule's spine, before releasing a strong wave of his** Kōri Mahō** around him, turning Rayule's black threads into ice. Dark mage was shocked at how quickly the Fairy Tail wizards had frozen the wrappings and didn't know what to say as Gray broke free of the bindings and stepped hard on one of the destroyed ice fragments. "Did you really think you guys had any chance against any Fairy Tail wizard?" Gray asked as he used his ice to start freezing Rayule's body, already the dark wizards legs were trapped in a thick, cold covering.

"You think dark guilds are scary? Comparing to those two…" Gray mentioned Natsu and Erza of course "…your entire guild is as scary as firefly" Ice mage said as Rayule's teeth started to chatter from the low temperature.

"We'll stop you! And we'll make you pay for targeting the geezers, including our own master. Those old men are like our parents!" Gray said as he roughly grabbed Rayule's face. The ice wizards hand released a huge amount of ice that covered the room in white. "We'll show you there're gilds way scarier than any dark guild" Gray added as he walked out of the room, leaving a completely frozen Rayule standing there with a look of fear stuck on his face.

'_I have to find Erza or Natsu and let them know what is happening'_ Gray thought as he headed back to the station's main hall, looking for the scarlet-haired witch and others.

* * *

(Station main hall, with Lucy and Sin)

"How many people are here? My hands already hurt all over…" Lucy complained as she continued to tie up defeated Eisenwald members.

"You better stop complaining and hurry up or else Erza gonna punish you…" Sin noted, freaking her out a little as he brought more ropes to Lucy.

"Ah, don't say things like that!" Lucy cried tearfully as her strengthless hands dropped down. "It's just too many of them…"

"How's it going Lucy?" Erza's voice called out as she appeared from the one of the corridors.

"We're almost done here!" Lucy reported with scared voice.

As Erza came closer Lucy noticed the missing glove and blood on her hand "Erza, what's with you hand? Do you need bandaging?"

"Don't bother about it, we have a problem on our hands. I have to interrogate some of these guys…" Erza looked at tied Eisenwald members and headed toward the hole in the carriage where defeated Byard still were.

"Erza!" Gray's voice called out from above. Scarlet-haired girl raised her eyes to see Gray on the second floor's balcony.

"Gray! What's going on? You are not with Natsu?" Erza asked

"We had to split up, Natsu went to search out the newer section of the station… Ah, never mind that now!" Ice mage shouted with worried voice. "Eisenwald's real objective is the town down the line from here!"

"What?!" Now Erza was worried too.

"The Clover town – it's the place where the old men are having their regular meeting! They intend to use **Rarabai** over there!" Gray explained.

"So that's what are you planning?!" Erza yelled as entire hall started to shake from her fury, her eyes erupted bright flame once more.

"Eeeh!" Some Eisenwald members cringed in fear.

"Damn! And this station is surrounded by a magic wind wall!" Erza exclaimed as she watched Gray jumping over the balcony fences and landing on the main hall's floor.

"Yeah, I saw it a moment ago. You'll be mincemeat if you try and force yourself out" Gray commented as he came closer to dragon-knight.

"I'm well aware of it…" Erza muttered and clenched to her right arm.

"Erza, your arm…" Gray asked with slight concern in his voice.

"It's nothing… But while we're sitting here, Erigor gets ever closer to where the Guild Masters are…" Erza said as she stood with eyes closed, trying to figure out some solution. Suddenly something popped up inside her mind. "Ah yes… There should be someone they call "Kage" in the Eisenwald. And if I remember correctly, you mentioned the he was going to break the seal of the **Rarabai** all by himself! And it seems that he succeeded!" Erza exclaimed with hope in her voice.

"You mean he is a dispeller! Then he might be able to handle the magic wall of wind!" Gray agreed to her idea.

"Then we should go and look for him, and let's hope we will be able to find him before your boyfriend do, or this "Kage" will be put out of commission for a long time…" Sin commented.

"Yeah… Natsu know how to handle his enemies…" Erza smiled a little.

"Erza! It's not the time for daydreaming!" Sin exclaimed, making a face-palm.

"Oh, sorry!" Erza shook her head "Come on!" knight-mage shouted as she and the others started running toward the corridor which leads to the newer part of the station "Let's look for him! Capture Kage!"

* * *

(New Station Sector, with Natsu)

"Damn, I can't find any activity!" Natsu said to himself as he ran down the hallway, checking several rooms as he moved. "Are those two even in the station anymore?"

Behind the God slayer, a shadow was following after him from a distance. A head raised from the shadow a little to reveal Kageyama watching Natsu with narrowed eyes. _'This guy can try to look all he wants, but since Reina and Erigor are no longer in the station, he's just wasting his time.'_

"It's taking too long!" Natsu shouted as he used a bolt of crimson energy to make a hole in the closest wall and then he entered through this hole to search the room. Looks like it was some kind of storage room – large amount of wooden crates were inside. "If they really intended to use the station's broadcasting system, they had plenty of time to do it already. Yet they haven't tried anything by now, then that means I was right and they must be after something or someone else… But what are they **really** after?" Natsu thought aloud, trying to decide what to do next. "Crap, it seems that these cretins really managed to fool us!" Natsu exclaimed in frustration as he slammed his fist to the wall, making another hole. Suddenly he felt someone's presence, familiar one. _'However… may be I still have a chance to learn their plans'_ Natsu thought as he chuckled a little.

'_Well, it would be no problem if I'll just leave him alone for now, but…'_ Kageyama thought as he exited his shadow fully, before placing his hand on the ground _'…I won't have a peace of mind if I won't punish him!'_ Shadow mage released several shadow tendrils at Natsu.

God slayer stood still with his back to the enemy, but when shadows almost reached him he instantly turned around and once again slashed all the tendrils by his sword. "What's wrong? You don't like your new haircut?" Natsu mocked at Kage. "But it's very fortunate that you came here. Now you going to tell me where Reina and Erigor are and what are they planning to do"

"You wanna know what's going on? Okay, I'll tell you if you defeat me" Kageyama smirked. "Let's see how you handle this!" Shadow mage placed his hands on the floor and magic seal appeared under Kageyama, which released multiple shadow snakes with their fangs ready to strike Natsu "**Shadōorochi**!"

"That was the plan from the beginning!" Natsu grinned at Kage. **"Senjin no Sōken!"** Crimson energy formed into two long blades on each of his fists. Natsu swung by both arms, obliterating all the shadows by his twin blades and shaking entire building.

"What's going on!?" Lucy asked as plaster rained down on her from the ceiling.

"It's Natsu! C'mon, we close!" Erza shouted, she already picked Natsu's scent and her group was almost there.

"Y-You've got to be kidding me! He destroyed my Python Shadows with a single attack?! What destructive power… I can't believe wizard like this exists!" Kageyama stuttered in shock and fear as he watched Natsu building up his magic around his fist.

"Now I'm going to punish you for the fact that you and your friends-idiots dared to make fun of me, my fiancé and my guild!" Natsu shouted as he dashed to Kageyama. **"Senjin no Saiken!"** He landed a direct hit right into Kage's face, smashing him into the wall. However, Natsu's blow was less powerful than usual, it seems he's restraining himself. **"Senjin no Dogō!"** Flow of crimson energy reached Kage and exploded, making a large hole in the wall and leaving shadow mage barely conscious.

"Oh my… it seems I'm ended up by destroying the place again… Why does it always end up like this? At least I managed to restrain myself enough to leave this guy conscious" Natsu mumbled to himself. "Okay… It seems I won. Now let's have a little chat, you and I, shall we?" Natsu asked with pretty evil smile.

* * *

Spell list:

**Kaze Mahō** – Wind Magic

**Rarabai** - Lullaby

**Senjin no Yōshihō** – War God's Proton Cannon

**Ken no Mahō** – Sword Magic

**Kansō** – Ex-equip (Requip)

**Seirei Mahō** – Stellar spirit magic

**Za Naito** – The Knight

**Tenrin no Yoroi** – Heaven's Wheel Armor

**Tenrin: Junkan no Ken** – Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword

**Enryū no Hōkō** – Flame Dragon's Roar

**Enryū no Kōken** – Flame Dragon's Steel Fist

**Enryū no Yokugeki** – Flame Dragon's Wing Attack

**Metsuryū Mahō** – Dragon Slayer Magic

**Metsujin Mahō** – God Slayer Magic

**En no Metsuryū Mahō** – Flame Dragon Slayer Magic

**Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo** – Ice Make: Shield

**Kōri mahō** – Ice magic

**Mafū Heki** – Wind Wall

**Aisu Meiku: Nakkuru** – Ice Make: Knuckles

**Zōkei Madōshi** – Creation (Molding) Mage

**Shadōorochi** – Shadow Python

**Senjin no Sōken** – War God's Twin Swords

**Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

…

* - Natsu's song "Damned and denied was inspired by Powerwolf's song "Sanctified with dynamite"

* * *

Okay people this is it, chapter V completed. I hope it was enjoyable for you. And I would like to know your opinion about this chapter, so be sure to **REVIEW** it!

See you in the next chapter – **Chapter VI – The Silver Wind!**


	6. The Silver Wind!

**Hi people! Here is the new chapter, but before we proceed, I want to address to all NaZa fans, who thought about writing some Fanfics, but have not yet done so… Hear me out, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen: it's time to stop just thinking about it! Just sit down, open your favorite text processor and start writing already! Do not hesitate, community need more NaZa stories!**

* * *

Now, thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really appreciating it.

Some answers:

Orchamus: Well, Makarov is not an old fool, you know. He already suspected that Natsu and Erza are dating, so his reaction was a bit slurred. Moreover, he has more urgent matter now =) Later? May be =)

animeman12: Thanks man, I'm trying to resolve the situation about grammar, but it mostly depends on my beta-reader.

Toaneo07 Ver2.0: Many thanks.

naza fans: Again – many thanks.

FanFictionHunter: Of course it's here, I like Dragon Slayer magic. By the way, I'm sure I never told that because of the fact that Natsu is not Igneel's son the Fire Dragon was unable to find another foster child ;-)

Guest: What deed they done? Ah, you mean that extremely pleasurable deed, which man and woman can do in bed together? Which is especially pleasurable when they love each other? Yes, they done it =) Many, many times… But this story is "T" rated, so do not expect any detailed description. May be I'll write some spin-off in that case.

HalfChaos: You got it! =)

Mira-san: Yep, probably it will be at chapter 8.

Also, thanks everyone for your support. Now, I think we shall proceed.

...

One more thing, since it's the second time when I see this question. Natsu in my story possess a spell named **Tonryūsoku**. Full name - **Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku** - _God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath_. Don't let it confuse you people, it's just a spell name - Natsu have nothing to do with chaos dragon. Just as Gajeel's spell from canon **Metsuryū Ōgi: Gōma Tetsujinken** -_ Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: K__arma Demon: Iron God Sword_. It's just a name for a spell - Gajeel has nothing to do with iron God. Same thing for the God slayer Natsu.)

* * *

**Chapter VI – The Silver Wind!**

…

Oshibana station, July 8, 15:35.

"Now let's have a little chat, you and I, shall we?" Natsu asked from Kageyama with quite evil smile.

"Caught… Caught… All your efforts… Are in vain…" Kage took a lot of damage and he was barely conscious, yet some pitiful semblance of a smile was on his face as he spoke. "Reina… and Erigor… left the station long ago…"

"I'm already figured it out" Natsu said with narrowed eyes as he poked the edge of his blade into shadow mage's leg, wiping out Kage's smile "Where are they heading, what they are planning to do? Speak!" He increased the pressure on the blade, causing more pain.

"Natsu! That's Enough! We need him!" Erza shouted as she, Gray, Lucy and Sin were running toward God slayer and his defeated enemy.

"What? We need him? Really?" Natsu wondered as he turned his head to look at approaching group of his teammates, he also removed the edge of Heavenly Blossom from Kage's leg.

"Nice work, Natsu! We were looking for him!" Gray exclaimed with satisfied grin.

"He is conscious, well done!" Erza praised her beloved. She came close to Natsu and kissed him before asking "Can I borrow it for a moment?" She looked at Natsu's katana. However, instead of handing over the sword to his soon to be wife Natsu just smiled as Heavenly Blossom was soaked into Natsu's hand.

"Nope, sorry, but I promised to my mother that her blade will never leave our family, so if you want my sword – marry me first" Natsu winked.

"Nasty boy!" Erza huffed as she summoned one of her own swords and headed toward Kage.

"Hey, I suggested appointing the wedding on July 1! It was your idea to wait until the autumn, so don't you dare to sulk at me!" Natsu exclaimed resentfully but he was ignored as Erza plunged her sword into the wall, three millimeters away from Kage's neck.

"I want this **Mafū Heki** to be nullified at once! You'll gain a new cut every time you say "no" Erza threatened as she looked at Kage with her signature dark glare, making him to sweat all over and tremble in fear.

"Are we really has to be here?" Lucy muttered to herself as she watched at scared to death shadow mage.

"**Mafū Heki**?" Natsu wondered "What's this all about?"

"Erigor created a wind barrier which prevents anyone from getting out of here" Gray answered to Natsu's question while Erza was busy by intimidation Kage to death. "Erigor and Reina attempting to use the flute at the Clover town, they are targeting guild masters regular meeting." Gray finished explanation as Natsu's eyes blazed with fury.

"F-fine…" Kage stuttered but Natsu interrupted him.

"Nothing fine in here." God slayer stated, making everyone to look at him questioningly. "He has almost no magic left, it will take time for him to recover enough to perform a magic dispel. However… we actually do not need him to remove the wind barrier, someone else could do it." Natsu said as he got pleased look on his face for some reason.

"Really? And who is this?" Erza wondered, she did not understand what he was getting.

"You" Simply answered Natsu as he came closer to his fiancé.

"Me? How I supposed to do it?" Erza became even more confused.

"**Mafū Heki** is a magical wind barrier but it's still a wind. And if it's a wind – you can burn it" Natsu explained his idea as he fell on his knees near dragon-knight and hug her.

Erza's eyes widened as she understood that Natsu wants her to do "W-Wait Natsu… I'm not sure I…" She stuttered but Natsu did not listen. He grabbed her hand, stood up and pulled his scarlet-haired beauty along to the storage room where he fought with Kageyama.

Lucy, Gray and Sin were completely confused (and Gray again stripped to his underwear), they just followed the couple as Natsu led Erza to the storage room.

Natsu looked around at a large amount of wooden crates in the room. "Yes, this should be just enough…" Natsu said with satisfied look. He raised his arms and launched several bolts of crimson energy at the crates, setting them aflame.

"Hey man, what are you doing?!" Gray exclaimed as he watched unnecessary destruction of someone's property. It was too odd even for Natsu.

"You're about to see…" Natsu smirked before turning to Erza "… bon appetite, my love" He added and made one step aside.

"You're just insane, you know it?" Erza asked with smile, in her tone was a lot of admiration and a bit of disapproval. She made a deep breath and fire across the room headed to her mouth. Erza devoured all the flames, though she choked a little at the end. "Cough… cough… Damn, I did not get used to it completely yet" She said, trying to catch her breath. However, Natsu was more than satisfied as now Erza was at full power. God slayer approached her and encased in hug. "You should do it more often, it seems so hot…" He noted as Erza let out a satisfied groan.

"Wha... wha… what the hell just happened?!" Gray asked in shock, Sin and Lucy, however, were not so surprised by the scene they just saw.

"I'll explain on the way" Sin promised as Natsu headed to the room's exit. God slayer grabbed Kage by the collar and started to pull him behind himself.

"C'mon people, let's go!" Erza exclaimed as she followed her beloved. Lucy silently went after her.

Gray and Sin were behind as Lil bone dragon started to explain situation about Erza to the ice mage: "You see, Natsu decided that there is not enough fire in his life, so he decided to turn his fiancé into a flame dragon slayer..."

"He did what?!" Gray asked again…

* * *

(Clover canyon)

Great gorge, filled with deep clefts and dense mist, stretches all the way into the depths of the land. There is no way to cross it rather than railway. Long bridge, stretched to the very horizon, with railroad built upon it, is the only way to get to the Clover town. Two people stood right in the middle of it, watching ahead.

"The town of Clover where guild masters are assembled is near" Reina said as she looked to the east.

"Yes, and I've recovered most of the magic power that I used creating that magic wind wall" Erigor said. "We should speed up, those geezers who took away our jobs and our rights… just wait and see… The god of death will purge you all!" Erigor said with an evil smile as he soared into the air.

"This is the beginning of the new Era!" Reina exclaimed as she once more made a silver surfboard and joined Erigor in the skies. "The old order will fall under the song of the **Rarabai**!"

Two magic seals flashed in the skies as two terrorists flew toward the city of Clover at high speed.

* * *

Oshibana station, July 8, 16:05.

Team Natsu gathered at the balcony where Erza was about an hour ago to make an announcement for the public about terrorists.

"Okay guys, I did not completely understood what you two intending to do, but please do it fast. Only thing I know for certain - we won't be able to get out of here unless we do something about this magic wind wall" Gray stated as she looked at Natsu and Erza, who was stood near the wall, talking to each other.

"We're on it Gray, just wait a second." Natsu calmed him down before turning back to Erza. "Okay, are you ready?"

"Yes, I think I am" Erza answered as she looked into God slayer's eyes. She closed her eyes, extended her arms forward and prepared to ignite flames around herself as Natsu's voice suddenly interrupted her.

"Hey wait a second!" Natsu exclaimed worriedly "What is this? There is something inside the wind!" He pointed at the wall, something with metallic gloss caught his attention.

"Reina added these things into the wind wall, probably to increase the damage that wall will cause to anyone who will try to break through" Erza explained, however, she just speculated about purpose of these spheres.

"Damn!" Natsu slammed his fist into one of the balcony's columns, causing it became cracked all over.

"What's wrong Natsu?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"This spheres… it's not just a metal balls as they seems… I found one of these things on the train when I searched the items of… this guy…" Natsu forgot Kageyama's name so he just pointed at him. "…This spheres… they're bombs. Last time when I saw such a thing it exploded when it fell from carriage's chair to the floor, and its power was enough to destroy the whole carriage…" Natsu recalled his encounter in the train.

"But there are hundreds of these things!" Lucy exclaimed in shock as she examined the wind wall closely.

"Exactly… If they all will explode – the power of the explosion would be enough to destroy the entire station along with us. Even if we will survive the explosion somehow, none of us will be in condition to chase the Erigor and Reina, not to mention the fight against them… Damn!" Natsu again slammed his fist into a column, destroying it.

"So now we have to wait until that guy will recover his magic so we could use him to remove the wall?" Lucy asked uncertainly as he watched how column turned into debris.

"Lucy, aren't you listening? No matter which way we chose to remove the wind barrier. As soon as it will be dispersed all these spheres will fall on the ground and explode" Natsu clarified his thoughts.

"Ok… Okay… I understand…" Lucy stuttered. "Gray, can't you do something about these bombs? Freeze them or something?"

"I'm afraid not, it's too many of them, I won't be able to freeze them all at once…" Ice mage admitted with regret.

"Damn, it's my fault!" Erza suddenly exclaimed "I was outside the barrier, but when Erigor showed up I tried to talk with him, instead of attacking him on sight…" Her eyes were filled with regrets. "Because of my carelessness he pushed me inside the barrier and escaped. I know you would not have made such a mistake…" She added, addressing to Natsu, making him to encase her in comforting hug as Lucy remembered that Natsu hurled his magic spear into Everlue as soon as he appeared, not giving him a chance to do or even say something.

"Easy, easy. Blaming yourself will not do any good to us. I'm sure eventually you too will learn to cast spells first and ask questions later…" Natsu said with calming smile. "By the way, why is you hand was not bandaged yet?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he took a good look at her right arm.

"Lucy tried to offer a bandage but she refused" Sin noted.

"I told you it's nothing" Erza sighed.

"Oh, you're stubborn…" Natsu wanted to dress down his girlfriend, too bad her stubbornness was one of the things that he loved about her. "We already have more than enough things in common, lose one of your hands is absolutely unnecessary" Natsu stated. "Lucy, give me the first aid kit, I'll handle it"

'_What he mean "…lose one of your hands…"? His hands seem quite normal to me… But why he constantly wears this glove? May be it's not only to better hold the sword?...'_ Lucy thought.

"Natsu we have no time for this!" Erza retorted "We have to get out of here!"

"Have any ideas? If not – let me help you. Leaving your hand like this will not help us anyway" Natsu stated, leaving no room for arguing.

Erza tried to think out the reason to refuse but nothing came to her mind, so she unwillingly knelt, extending her right arm so Natsu could process it.

"Sometimes I envy to his ability to remain cold-blooded even in such desperate situation…" Gray commented as he watched at Natsu, who uses hydrogen peroxide to disinfect Erza's wounds.

"Ouch! Careful, it hurt!" Erza exclaimed.

"I know, I did it purposely" Natsu gave her a wink.

"Nasty boy…" She sniffed.

"Yeah, then we were in Harujeon he never showed any sign of worry, and when we were in Everlue mansion, too…" Lucy commented. As soon as she said it Sin suddenly remembered something.

'_Everlue mansion…! That's it!'_ A thought suddenly went through Lil dragon's mind. "Lucy! I just remembered!" He exclaimed loudly.

Lucy jumped a little at Sin's voice, "W-What's it?"

"I remembered what I was supposed to tell you earlier." Bone creature said as he put his hand inside his own glowing skeletal belly. Lucy looked at him a bit shocked as he tried to find something inside himself (literally).

"Is this really the time for…" She was cut off by Sin taking out a gold key, definitely it is one of the ecliptic zodiac keys. This one was decorated by symbols of Virgo constellation. "Virgo's key?!" Lucy yelled in shock "Where did you get that?! You shouldn't be taking someone else's key without permission!" Lucy tried to catch bone creature but he easily dodged from her hands.

"I can, but in this case it was not necessary" Sin explained "Actually, Virgo herself asked me to give it to you. She came to the guild late last night to speak with Mira, but since she asked you to join us, I took the key" Lil dragon recalled the events of the last night. "Virgo said that since Everlue was arrested, his contract was broken, so now she wanted to make contract with **Seirei Madōshi** from Fairy Tail. As far as I know – you are the only **Seirei Madōshi** in our guild, so it's yours." Sin finished explanation and held out the gold key to Lucy.

"What are you two talking about?" Erza asked as Natsu wraps up bandages around her arm.

"Sheesh. We don't have time to waste on this pointless crap" Gray commented with annoyed look.

"Virgo? What are you two talking about and how's she connected with that fool Everlue?" Natsu asked as he finished bandaging his fiancé's arm.

"Oh, we forgot to tell you" Sin explained "That gorilla-maid – she is actually the one of twelve Zodiac stellar spirits – Virgo"

"Really? He was a **Seirei Madōshi** too?" Natsu was a bit surprised.

"That…" Lucy recalled the image of gorilla-maid and started to shiver a little "…came to the guild?"

"Take the key already" Sin said as he continued to hold the key in front of Lucy.

"Well, I love the offer, but this isn't really the time, you know? We have to think of a way to get out of here." Lucy said as she continued to stare at the Virgo's key.

Sin made a face-palm "Lucy, I'm already know the way out of here so take this damn key! Don't you remember? Virgo can dive underground, just like Everlue. That way we could go under the magic wind wall and get out of here!" Lil dragon almost yelled at Lucy.

"Really?!" Erza exclaimed.

"Is that true?!" Gray asked.

"Than what are you waiting for?!" Natsu shouted.

"I see!" Blonde's eyes widened at sudden realization. "Way to go, Sin! Why didn't you mention that earlier?!"

"Because you argued too much" Sin answered as he held out the gold key to Lucy once again.

"Give it to me!" Lucy exclaimed impatiently as he snatched the key from Sin's bone claw. Lucy extended her arm forward and began to cast the spell: **"I am linked to the path to the world of Celestial Spirits! Now! O spirit, answer my call and pass through the Gate! Gate of the maiden, I open thee! **_**Barugo**_**!"** As Lucy chanted a golden magic seal appeared and a girl shot out of the seal, she was around Lucy's age, wearing a maid outfits with pink hair reaching just above her shoulders and broken chains around her wrists, bowing a little to Lucy.

"How may I help you, mistress?" The girl asked, not noticing Lucy look at her like a gaping fish.

"…Who…are you?" Lucy asked in shock.

"She's completely different from the last time…" Natsu commented as he and Erza came closer to the **Seirei**.

"I apologize for the trouble I caused you earlier" Virgo said to Natsu with friendly smile.

"He smashed her to the wall and blasted her along with the mansion, yet she is apologizing?" Sin scratched his bone skull.

"Hey hey, wait! What's with your appearance?!" Lucy asked with very confused look.

The girl straightened herself before answering: "I am a Celestial Spirit that is faithful to her master. I perform my duties in the appearance my master wishes" Virgo explained, making Lucy to shook her head.

"Heh, this girl is pretty cute" Gray said with a smirk.

"Lucy, huh… She is good after all" Erza smiled a little.

"As I told you – she could be quite useful" Natsu agreed.

"Anyway, we don't have any time! Can we postpone the contract until later? We got some trouble right now" Lucy asked pink-haired maiden.

"As you wish, my Mistress. What is it that I can help with?" Virgo inquired.

"Wait, don't call me mistress" Lucy said, crossing her arms.

"Then shall I call you "Your highness?" Maid suggested.

"Rejected!" Lucy answered quickly.

"Then how about Princess?" Virgo asked.

"Hmm, that might be nice…" This time, Lucy smiled a little as stars shined around her.

"So, that's her thing, huh?" Gray commented with a sweatdrop.

"As I told you…" Natsu mumbled.

"Speed it up you two!" Erza ordered. Lucy nodded to Virgo and maiden bowed a little.

"I will proceed at once" She said as golden seal appeared underneath her. Second later she dived underground.

"Whoosh! Let's go through this hole!" Gray exclaimed and followed the maiden.

"Nice job, Lucy!" Erza praised blonde as she pressed her head to her armor-cowered chest.

"Ouch!" Lucy cried as her head struck the armor.

"C'mon, c'mon, let's go!" Natsu urged everyone to go through the tunnel.

"I-Impossible… there's no way you'll catch up with him now… w-we won…" Kageyama said as he watched Natsu came close to the tunnel, he was the last one.

"I'm wondering… When I'll defeat Reina… Will her bombs become inactive? If not, then I wish you to kick the bucket well" Natsu laughed and jumped into the tunnel.

* * *

Town of Oshibana, July 8, 16:30.

"We made it!" Gray shouted as he managed to climb out from the tunnel.

"Hurry onward!" Erza urged her team.

"Whoa, the wind!" Lucy exclaimed as she tried to hide her face from dust and small debris.

"Princess! Your underwear is almost showing!" Virgo said as he held Lucy's skirt, ignoring her own dress that was waving in the wind, exposing her panties.

"Why don't you hide yours?" Lucy asked the maiden as Gray was a bit stunned by this sight.

"Natsu! Our magic wheeler is gone!" Erza informed her fiancé as he appeared from the tunnel.

"Does not matter" Natsu answered "We have no chance to catch up with them on the wheeler anyway. I'm afraid now I have only one option…" God slayer turned to Lucy. "Lucy, I'm going to show you something. You will not tell anyone about that you will see right now without my personal permission. Neither to other guild members nor even to your closest relatives, understood?"

Lucy gulped a little but nodded to Natsu.

Natsu undid glove on his left hand, and took it off, revealing fleshless bones, covered by blue flame, instead of normal hand.

Lucy's eyes widened in horror from this sight "Wha… what… what's with your hand?!"

"It's a long story Lucy, no time for it now. Sin, c'mon!" Natsu called for his familiar. As little bone creature came closer, Natsu gathered some amount of blue flame to make a blue fireball. Next moment he threw it right into Sin. As blue sphere made a contact, Lil dragon was consumed into bright sphere of light. Few seconds later light disappeared, revealing large skeletal dragon-like creature, about eight meters in length and one and a half meters at the shoulder. His bones were covered by the same blue flame as Natsu's left arm. Natsu put his glove back, hiding exposed bones.

"C'mon Erza, no time to waste!" Natsu shouted as he mounted on the skeletal dragon.

"Sorry guys, but I can only carry two people, for now" Sin said, meaning that Lucy and Gray have to find another transport as Erza joined Natsu on his back. She sat behind him and wrapped her hands around his waist.

"Go!" Natsu ordered.

"Hold on!" Sin shouted as he flapped his wings and soared into the air, carrying Natsu and Erza toward Clover town.

"This is why I did not want to go with them! They are so selfish!" Gray said angrily. "All right Lucy, come on, we have to find another wheeler"

Lucy stood still with her mouth and eyes wide-open, looks like she barely could believe into what just happened.

* * *

Clover canyon, not far from Clover town, July 8, 17:10.

"There they are!" Erza exclaimed as she saw Erigor and Reina by her dragon eyes. "Sin, you caught up with them!"

'_It's good that she has no motion sickness while riding on Sin's back…'_ Natsu thought as they approached to their enemies. He was not sure why, maybe it's because Sin is some kind of dragon too…

"I'm going to shoot them down, brace yourself!" Sin warned his passengers as he started to gather magic for his cold breath.

"Don't worry, just force them to land and we'll do the rest" Natsu said.

* * *

"I see, that's the town" Erigor said as he saw Clover's townhouses on the other side of the canyon.

"We have to hurry, regular meeting could end at any moment now" Reina noted as they both crossed the canyon and now was flying above the grass-covered plains with several rocks and trees on it. Distance between them and Clover town was about six kilometers. Suddenly they both started to hear some sibilant noise, which source was behind them, and noise was becoming louder each second.

Everything happened within seconds. Simultaneously Erigor and Reina turned their heads back, only to see the large blue fireball approaching them. When fireball came close enough it exploded, releasing powerful shockwave of frost magic. Shockwave was strong enough to break Erigor's flight spell and knock Reina from her surfboard.

Both dark mages fell on the ground, creating little craters at the impact points. Both Natsu and Erza jumped down on earth as Sin's transformation wore off and he returned to his normal form.

"Sorry guys… I've done everything I could… the rest is up to you…" Lil dragon said with efforts, he obviously was extremely exhausted. He barely flew to closest stone and lay down on it to take some rest.

"Thank you Sin! We owe you one…" Erza said, not taking her eyes off her enemies.

"Rest, my friend, we'll take care of this scam" Natsu's eyes blazed with crimson light.

"You… you damn flies… why you are here…?" Erigor growled as he raised on his feet.

"You?! Again?!" Reina yelled, her eyes burned with hatred as she stared at Natsu.

"We are here to stop you and make you pay for the attempt of killing our master" Erza answered, sending at Shinigami her signature dark glare. "You said that you wants to fight me? Here is your chance!"

"No criminal can escape me Reina, you should know that by now. I'm here for your bounty!" Natsu shouted as Heavenly Blossom glinted in his hand.

* * *

"Why we took this vehicle? It is not the one that we rented…" Lucy asked as she and Gray were heading toward town of Clover aboard 2-seat magical four-wheeler, which they took without permission (because no one left in Oshibana to ask for permission). It was Lucy's turn now to serve as a fuel tank for magical vehicle, so S.E. plug was connected to her wrist while Gray was on driver seat.

"I take my hat off to Eisenwald for their precautions. They made sure our vehicle was destroyed…" Ice mage said as his sight was focused on the road.

"That means we have to provide compensation…" Lucy moaned sadly. However, that was not the thing that bothers her most. "Gray, did you knew about what was hidden under that Natsu's glove?" Lucy asked as she shivered a little when the image of Natsu's skeletal hand popped up in her mind.

"Yes…" Answered ice mage with a grim look, it was easy to assume by his reaction that he is not too happy about it. "I learned about it by accident, about five months ago. I took a walk in the forest nearby Magnolia and accidentally stumbled across sleeping Natsu… Lucy, focus on the vehicle please!" Gray said as vehicle's speed dropped a little. It seems that Lucy became a bit distracted as Gray started to recall that accident.

"Oh, sorry Gray, I just can't throw the image of his hand out of my head…" Lucy complained, forcing more magic into the **majikku 4-hoīru bīkuru**.

"Yeah… I'm understand you… I found Natsu sleeping under the large tree. As I'm thinking of it now – he probably was on date with Erza, but because they were hiding their relationships he had to wait some time before returning to the guild after she did and he fell asleep… or maybe he just took a walk like I did. Anyway, I saw him sleeping, and his hand was not covered by glove for some reason…" Gray shivered a little as he remembered this moment. "My reaction was the same like yours. I remember that I just stood still for the several minutes, staring at his skeletal flame-covered arm, until he awoken…"

"He was angry at you?" Lucy asked uncertainly.

"No, actually Natsu is not like this… He admitted what it was his fault that he fell asleep and exposed his secret to me, but he took my word that I will not tell about his secret to anyone. Apart from you, Erza and me only Mira and master knows his secret, as he told me…" Gray finished explanation with deep sight.

"He did not tell you what happened?" Lucy asked, though she already knew the answer.

"No. I bet that the only two living souls who know the whole story are Natsu and Erza" Gray answered. He actually thought that Sin probably knows it too but ice mage just could not call him "living soul." Gray thought a little and then added: "To be honest, both of them are quite mysterious. Natsu's past contains many secrets… and I don't know much about Erza'z past either."

"Then it's just another reason for them to be together… It's easier to share your burden with someone who has his own burden as well… We all have some burden of course, but some people got more than others…" Lucy smiled sadly and Gray felt some kind of sympathy toward this cute blonde, in the end – his own past was not full of joy, not at all.

"Gray, what will happen to the dark guild members? If Natsu was right and those silver balls really are bombs… they will explode and kill every one inside the station…" Lucy really felt herself uneasy, this cute blonde have kind heart.

"I don't know, but as far as I remember – we did not tie all of them, so they probably could leave the station the same way we did…" Gray thought for a second before continuing "…life and death are not the only two possible outcomes of the conflict, right? I think even people like them should live their lives more positively…"

'_Huh? It seems this guy too is not as simple as he seems…'_ Lucy thought as she heard Gray's words. _'Life and death are not the only two possible outcomes… I hope you right Gray… Natsu, Erza… I believe you can stop Reina and Erigor from using the __**Rarabai**__ … If not… all of the masters in this area will die… '_

* * *

"Come on, Shinigami! I'll slice you to pieces and incinerate this damn flute!" Erza mocked her enemy. She holds a sword in her right hand as her left was engulfed in flames.

'_What happened to my __**Mafū Heki**__… And with Kageyama and the rest? I was about to arrive where those geezers are, too… they're indeed… bothersome flies.'_ Erigor thought in anger as he stared at scarlet-haired dragon-knight.

"What's wrong Reina? Wondering why you toys did not worked? Do you forget that good bounty hunter always have an ace up his sleeve?..." Natsu smiled at her, he knew she is cornered now. Actually, Lucy's magic and Everlue's key were very fortunate circumstances, but it worked, so why not to mock her?

'_I knew those Eisenwalds clowns were no match for these guys… But what happened to my __**Shirubā Sufia**__... Why this two are still in one piece?! We were almost there! My plan almost worked!'_ Reina gave a hateful glare to the guy who openly called her the merchandise, which he intended to sell to the authorities.

* * *

(Song: Fairy Tail OST - Black Wizard's Wicked Heart)

"Be gone, damn flies!** Uindo Burēdo!**" Erigor shouted as he started to rapidly move his left hand with the index and middle fingers outstretched before him. Erigor generated several wide blades of wind, each possessing different width, and send them flying at his opponents at high speed.

"Childish prattle…" Natsu commented as Erza dashed toward wind mage, slashing all of wind blades by her sword with ease. She ran to the wind mage, jumped, performing summerset in mid-air and slashed last of the wind blades before attacking Erigor **"****Enryū no Kōken!"**

Erigor managed to avoid Erza's burning fist at the last moment by leaping aside. Erza struck the ground, producing an explosion and eliciting a dust cloud. She did not stopped even for a moment, dragon-knight used her newly acquired keen senses to find Erigor through dust and jumped to him with two streams of fire from her hands **"Enryū no Yokugeki!" **She swung these streams at the wind mage, blowing him away. While Erigor was dazed she ex-equipped her Heaven's wheel armor **"Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito!** Dance for me, you windy ass!**"** Erza shouted as she activated the ability of her armor, she summoned about dozen of different swords and sent them toward Erigor, with "little" addition of flame **"Enryū no Hōkō!"** Erigor managed to avoid the swords but powerful flame stream landed a direct hit, he was blasted away and flew head over hills for several tens meters. Erza dashed to him with intention to land a finishing blow, but Erigor soared into the air right from under her nose.

"Don't get carried away!" Erigor shouted and casted a spell "**Sutōmu Buringā!**" He performed several gestures with his left hand's fingers, and then moves his open hand towards the target. Right under Erza's feet appeared a magic seal, which elicited a powerful tornado. Erza was soaked into it and stunned with its rotating motion as she was slightly cut with wind blades, subsequently sending her flying away. Erigor saw an opening and dashed to Erza as she fell on the ground. He swung his scythe, trying to slice dazed knight-mage, but instead he only slightly poked scythe's blade into Erza's elbow as she recovered and blocked his attack.

'_She stopped my scythe with her arm?!'_ Erigor mentally exclaimed in shock. He quickly increased distance between him and Erza and cast another spell "**Sutōmu Shureddo****!**" Magic seal appeared before him as he fired several barrages of wind blades at knight-mage.

Erza quickly ex-equipped her sword for a pair of lesser swords and dashed toward wind mage, deflecting wind blades by both swords. She used her armor ability to levitate and covered her feet with flame to propel herself toward Erigor at high speed **"Enryū no Sōkon!"**

"**Sutōmu ****Uōru!"** Erigor moved his left hand before him, summoning forth his Magic Seal. Erza's burning foot landed a blow right into the seal, but Erigore's spell was strong enough to nullify Erza's attack. However, she turned around in midair and cast another spell, slashing her opponent in a delta formation **"****Toriniti Sōdo!"**

Erigor partially blocked this attack by his scythe, yet Erza managed to wound him once more. "It seems that your reputation is well-deserved, Titania Erza… Looks like I have to fight against you with full force…" Erigor said as he wiped some blood from his chin while he and Erza both were floating in the air.

"I'm dying from anticipation…" Erza snorted negligently, for now this fight was not too challengeable.

* * *

"**Shirubā Hoippu!"** Reina shouted as a silver-colored magic seal appeared in her right hand. Seal started to glow and recomposing itself into a long whip, composed from liquid silver. Green-haired woman swung her weapon toward Natsu, who stood still, simply observing silver claimer's actions. As Reina's whip shot toward him God slayer extended his left arm to protect his body, and silver whip wrapped itself around extended arm.

"Gotcha!" Reina exclaimed as she thought that Natsu was too careless and let her take an advantage. Natsu, however, just smirked before casting his own spell **"Akukan Chimyōshō!**"

Blue flame engulfed his left arm and quickly got over from it onto the silver whip, spreading along it, up to the Reina's hand which holds the whip. As blue flame covered the whip its color started to change from silver to black. "Aaauu!" Reina screamed as blue flame reached her hand, forcing her to drop her weapon. "What the hell did you done?!" She asked.

Natsu did not answered, he just looked at her emotionlessly and stated "You better take this seriously Reina, your freedom is at stake… **Senjin no Dogō!" **Natsu suddenly ceased his speech and unleashed huge, powerful stream of crimson energy at his enemy, causing a massive explosion, which Reina barely managed to escape, using her silver surfboard at the last moment. God slayer chased her as he shrouded his legs by crimson energy and jumped up to get to her and flipped over her and tried to punch Reina in the head: "**Senjin no Saiken!"**

"**Shirubā Shīrudo!"** Green-haired woman shouted, creating a magic seal in front of herself, which quickly turned into silver tower shield. Shield was destroyed by Natsu's blow, but it gave Reina's enough time to cast another spell **"Shirubā Borēshūto!"** Another magic seal appeared before her as he fired several volleys of silver blades at God slayer.

Natsu was hit by several blades, gaining several cuts, but this was not enough to stop his attack **"Senjin no Sōken**!**"** Crimson energy formed into two long blades on each of his fists as Natsu came closer to silver claimer. As he came close enough, Natsu swung by both arms, hitting her by his crimson energy blades. Powerful blow destroyed her silver surfboard and sent her crashing into the ground. **"Senjin no Bakusō!" **Natsu hurled his crimson spear into dazed rogue mage, landing a direct hit, producing an explosion and eliciting a dust cloud. Natsu landed on the ground nearby, he knew that this is far from over yet.

"So, beat a woman is normal for you?" Reina asked as she slowly stood on her feet. She seems worn out but ready to continue the fight.

"You're not a woman, you are criminal scum who tried to kill our guildmaster" Natsu answered calmly. "Now, let's finish this!"

(Song End)

* * *

(Clover town, guild master's league meeting hall)

Makarov, Bob and Goldmine stood outside the hall, enjoying calm, silent evening.

"Huh? Did you hear that?" Goldmine asked suddenly, he thought that he heard some explosion-like sound.

"Heard what? There's nothing Goldy" Bob answered with his usual careless voice.

"He's right, don't get paranoid…" Makarov waved off all worries "…just enjoy the peaceful evening"

* * *

(Clover canyon, with Lucy and Gray)

"Lucy, we are almost at Clover town, just few kilometers left and I recovered most of my magic powers, so you can plug me to the vehicle" Gray suggested as he noticed that Lucy looks tired.

"No, I can hold a little longer" Her answer sounded quite determined. "You might need your magic powers to help Natsu and Erza"

"I doubt that it will be necessary…" Ice mage shook his head as he saw the end of the long railway bridge at the other side of the canyon "Look Lucy, we are almost there!"

* * *

(Six kilometers away from Clover town, with Erza)

(Song: Fairy Tail OST - Celestial Spirit Leo)

"Let's fight seriously now… Just me and you, Titania! **Sutōmu Meiru!**" Erigor shouted, crossing his hands before him. This prompted many air currents to gather around him and created a hurricane surrounding his entire body. Erigor now was covered by dense wind wall, similar to his **Mafū Heki**.

'_Whoa, the wind!' _Erza thought in surprise as powerful air current started to push her away from Erigor.

"Here I come!" Erigor shouted as he rushed toward Erza and attacked her by flurry of blows in melee. Erza tried to use her swords to block Erigor's attacks but both of them were ripped to metallic shreds by powerful wind that engulfed Erigor's fists.

'_Damn! Natsu is right – I have to rid of these cheap swords!_ Erza exclaimed mentally as she saw how both of her swords were turned to dust. _'Fortunately, I do no longer need swords to blow him away!'_ Knight-mage smirked as she again engulfed her feet in flame and flew toward wind mage, preparing for fist attack **"****Enryū no Kōken!"**

However, Erigor extended his right arm, concentrating wind currents in front of him. His hand meets with Erza's flaming fist and with loud sizzle flame extinguished as Erza was forced to cover her face from drastically increased wind pressure.

"Just as I thought… you can't generate that destructive power unless you're coated with flame… or you need swords to channel your magic through them… it's useless now…" Erigor said with a smirk as Erza was forced to land because her levitation magic could not withstand so strong wind pressure.

'_Damn, I can't use my swords and he blows off my flame! This is unexpected turn of events… Okay Erza, calm down, think!' _She mentally gave an order to herself.

"My storm mail is a reverse version of magic wind wall. It can turn to dust anything that comes from outside to inside, even strongest steel. Also it blows wind inside out… as you know – flame can't go against headwind. None of your magic is able to defeat wind…" Erigor snickered, staring down at dragon-knight with quite arrogant smirk, he thought that victory is already at his hands.

Erza patiently listened to Erigor's explanation… well, she pretended that she is listening to him – actually she used this time to think about strategy which she could use to defeat Shinigami. As a smart girl, scarlet-haired mage was aware of fact that fire can't go against headwind and she already took this into calculation. However, she did not know that Erigor can focus all of the wind pressure in one direction…

"**Hauringu Harikēn!"** Erigor shouted, drastically increasing air speed around him so Erza could barely stood on her feet, forced to cover her eyes from small debris and dust that the wind raised from the ground.

'_Damn, it's not the wind anymore, it's like a typhoon!' _Erza thought as she could barely see through the dust that filled the air around her. She looked around, Natsu was quite far away from her, still fighting against Reina – it seems his opponent was quite strong too… Moreover, the last thing that she wanted to do is appear weak or stupid in the eyes of her beloved.

"**Sutōmu Shureddo****!**" Another magic seal appeared before Erigor as he fired several barrages of wind blades at knight-mage, this time there were more of them, looks like **Sutōmu Meiru** also amplified Erigor's offensive magic.

"**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito!" **Erza shouted as magic seal appeared, ex-equipping another armor. Extremely revealing, this armor featured very few armored parts, it was more like a fancy attire bearing reminiscence to a cheetah. Needless to say that this armor is one of Natsu's favorite… but there is no time for such thoughts right now! Erza dashed toward Erigor at immense speed, easily avoiding his wind blades. **"Sonikku Kurou!"** She dashed towards Erigor and started to slash him from every direction at high speed. Erza swirled around wind mage, landing large amount of blows on him. However, as Erza suspected, it had almost no effect on him. Her sword turned to dust as Erigor just chuckled a little.

"**Sutōmu Burasuto!"** Erigor shouted, sending a wave of high pressure wind around him. Erza was caught by surprise in midair and sent crashing into the ground as Erigor sent another valley of his wind blades into Erza.

'_It's not just flame or swords! I can't even get close to him!'_ Erza thought swirling around to avoid wind blades. She used her Flight armor high speed to dodge the attacks.

Erigor used this distraction to cast another spell. **"Majikku Uindo Pāmu!"** Shinigami clapped both his hands together and released a highly destructive tornado. Spell hit the ground and produced powerful explosion, knocking Erza from feet.

"Take this damn fly! Soaring wind magic that cuts up everything – **Emera Baramu!" **He engulfed himself with wind, and then he placed his index and middle fingers in an X-shape in front of himself and fired a concentrated blast of wind blades at the target.

"Erza, be careful! Emerald Flurry will cut you to shreds if you get hit by that!" Sin's voice called out but too late, Erza was dazed when previous Erigor's spell knocked her from feet while she moved at high speed.

"Die! Damn insolent fly!" Erigor shouted as he released his spell. Huge amount of wind blades rushed toward Erza, eliciting huge dust cloud and ravaging the earth at the impact point, with scarlet-haired mage in the middle of it.

Erigor's wind quickly blew off the dust, revealing Erza's body, which was lying without movement.

"Erza!" Sin called for her, he was yet too weak to come closer through Erigor's wind. Lil bone dragon was worried as he looked at her motionless body.

Erigor looked at her victoriously. "Not bad, I really broke a sweat. Moreover, your body's still in one piece… You were pretty good, but I'm actually expected more from famous Titania…" Shinigami smirked. "Don't worry. Soon Reina will finish off your little friend… And then we'll send the geezers over to your place soon enough… with the **Rarabai's** melody, of course…" Erigor said as he turned away from Erza's body and looked toward Clover town, he was very pleased by himself.

"Wait… until I'll put this flute… into your ass hole…" Erza growled as she slowly stood up. Her armor was worn out, just like Erza herself, but she still was full of determination. "You will not go anywhere from here while I draw breath! No way I'll let you touch the guild masters!"

"What!? She's still alive!?" Erigor yelled in shock. No one was able to survive his Emerald Flurry, yet this girl just stood up! However, he recomposed himself pretty quickly "What a tenacious fly… You talk big, but it will change nothing! You can't get to me! You can't win!" He mocked the dragon-knight.

Erza's eyes blazed with fury, but Erigor was right and she knows it. _'You damned windy bastard… Argh! Looks like I have no other options – I need to strip him off that damn wind armor… but how?'_ Usually Erza could slice any air wall by her swords with ease, damn, she can slice the space itself! But this **Sutōmu Meiru** is composed from very mobile air currents, so any cut was closed almost instantly. _'I need to find a way to destroy this armor completely… but how?!'_ Suddenly Natsu's words popped up in her head _'…__a magical wind barrier but it's still a wind. And if it's a wind – you can burn it…'_ Erza's face expression changed to pleasant smirk _'That's it! Thank you, my love!' _Erza thought as she shot a glance at her fiancé (who seems to manage to take the upper hand in his own fight) before looking at Erigor.

'_Okay, I hope I was an attentive student…' _Erza thought as she recalled some texts from her grimoire and Natsu's explanations about slayers' capability to convert their emotions directly into magic.

Flame broke out around Erza, quickly engulfing her whole body. She let loose her short temper, filling her head with thoughts that could enrage her more_. 'Because of this motherfucker I look like an idiot! He is trying to kill our master and I can't stop him?!...'_

"Huh? What's this?" Erigor asked uncertain of what is going on.

'_What's she doing? Is this…'_ Sin observed Erza's actions with slight understanding; he already saw something like this before.

"You think I'll let you use Zeref's flute?!" Erza yelled at Erigor, as flame around her blazed brighter and stronger each second "I'm already fed up by his deeds far too much!"

"It's such an eerie magic… Her emotions seem to be manifested directly into the flame…" Erigor mumbled, he still could not understand what she is trying to do, he also did not noticed yet that air currents from his armor began to flow toward Erza.

'_Yes, that's it! I get it now – she is tried to burn out his __**Sutōmu Meiru**__! Erigor's wind is flowing in her direction!'_ Lil bone dragon understood Erza's idea.

"AAAARRGGHGHHH!" …It was not a human's voice anymore – it was a roar of she-dragon, enraged by stupidity and insolence of the mere human. Erza slammed her fists into the ground, sanding a wave of flame around herself, igniting nearby trees.

'_Flame of emotions!? I… recall hearing about an ancient magic like that… But she is a mere teenager… How can she know such an ancient magic?'_ Shinigami thought, still not aware of his wind's behavior.

"I will not appear weak in Natsu's eyes! NEVER!" Fire around dragon-knight already turned into high pillar of flame as Erigor finally noticed the direction of his air currents. "I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN!"

"What?! The wind… is flowing toward her?!" His eyes widened in shock as he noticed that his armor not only warped, but it also hinders to his movements.

'_I think a little help wouldn't be a waste'_ Sin smirked as he got an idea how to enrage Erza even more. "Hey Erza!..." Sin called out her name, gaining attention "…did Natsu have ever mentioned that he thought about threesome with you and Mirajane?" He asked casually, it was a truth by the way, however it was long before Erza and Natsu began dating.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Another thundering roar shook surroundings as Erza's flame instantly became twice as hot then before. "THIS WHORE IN MY BED?!"

'Natsu will have hard time...' Sin smirked as his plan worked perfectly.

Erigor's armor was almost sucked away as he could barely stand on his feet. Erza's rage become uncontrolled as flame pillar became almost hundred meters in height.

"His wind armor came off! Now, finish him!" Sin cheered for knight-mage.

"Incredible heat magic like this! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Erigor screamed in horror as he finally realized what is the magic with which he is facing now.

"I"LL KILL YOU AND THEN RIP THIS PINK-HAIRED PERVERT APART!" She yelled and dashed toward terrified wind mage with all her destructive flame.

'_Does a dragon slayer users still exist?!'_ Erigor thought a moment before Erza hit him with a powerful headbutt.

"**Enryū no Jinkaku!"** She smashed the Erigor and the sent him flying up in the air with a huge pillar of flame produced from her body, knocking him out completely. Erigor was utterly defeated as his burned body fell on the ground.

"Oh my… what's going on… with me…" Erza asked herself, she breathed heavily but looked quite satisfied.

"What do you mean?" Sin asked as he landed on Erigor's body.

"I just let my fury to completely consume me… Why the hell I feel myself so good now?!" She wondered, it was very weird but nice feeling, she felt some strange lightheartedness and freedom.

"I can't say it for sure, but Natsu always saying that holding your anger inside is bad – you should just release it through battle and you will feel yourself better" Sin explained.

"Oh, right! It reminds me… What did you said about Natsu earlier?" Erza asked with narrowed eyes. She turned toward Natsu right in time to see Reina being smashed to the rock with powerful energy beam which knocked her out.

"Well… You know, I'm just a magic creature… We have a really terrible memory…" Sin stuttered as he tried to escape but Erza caught him by tail.

"Not a chance, you're coming with me. I think we have to do a little chat with your "boss…" Erza stated and headed toward Natsu, pulling Sin along.

(End Song)

* * *

(Few minutes earlier, with Natsu)

(Song: Fairy Tail OST - Lightning Flame Dragon Roaring)

"I have no intentions to kill guild masters…" Reina smiled as she started to explain "…I just want to let Erigor to make an attempt to do it"

Natsu was surprised a bit "That makes no difference to me…" he said with a raised eyebrow. However… her soul was not as black as Erigor's, so he decided to listen to her story, in the end it might make some sense.

"Really? And I thought you are the smart one…" She sounds a bit disappointed. "I'm sure that Erigor will fail. The guild masters are powerful wizards – there is no chance that Erigor will be able to kill them… well, at least not all of them. But when people will learn about that accident… When they will learn that Zeref's legacy is threatening them once more… And the council is helpless… There will be a chaos! And when half of the magical world will be in panic… I'll make sure to feather my nest feather…" She finished explanation with evil smile.

"Now this is definitely your style…" Natsu smirked as he heard Reina's plan "…you know, we have it in common – I love money and wealth too. However, I was clever enough to find legal methods to make myself rich before I could be branded as criminal. This is why today I'll earn the bounty for you and you will lose everything." Natsu stated as crimson mist started to swirl around him "Let battle rejoice!"

"**Shirubā Supia Rein!"** Reina shouted, raising her arms in the air. Vortices of silver appear from multiple directions, which then began to unleash salvos of silver spears at God slayer.

"It won't help you, I'll just obliterate this things!" Natsu shouted as he saw huge amount of silver spears headed toward him **"****Senjin ****no Dogō!"** Flow of crimson energy flew toward spears and exploded, destroying a huge portion of spears and vortices. However, within a few second vortices restored themselves ant once more started to shoot spears toward Natsu.

'_What the hell?!'_ Natsu thought in surprise _'These things have a self-restoration capability?!'_ Natsu have a hard time dodging all those spears. _'Okay, if I can't destroy these silver vortices, then I just have to knock her out fast!'_ God slayer decided and rushed to Reina. However, she has no intentions to let him come close.

"I'm tired of your threats to sell me to the government! You want is seriously – you will get it! **Shirubā Enperā!"** A huge and powerful figure in the guise of an emperor, made out of silver, appeared before silver claimer.

"No use!" Shouted Natsu **"Senjin no Saiken!"** He slammed his energy covered fist into the statue, mutilating it. But within a second it restored its original form and winded Natsu with full force, making him to fly away from Reina head over hills.

"Ouch…" Natsu moaned, pulling his face out from the ground.

"So, what do you think about its use now?" Reina asked with satisfied smile as her silver vertices launched another volley of spears toward Natsu. God slayer rolled aside to avoid spears, but Reina's silver warrior rushed toward him and kicked him to his side by metallic leg, once again making him to fly head over hill.

'_Damn, it's not funny anymore! Focus Natsu!'_ He thought, jumping on his feet to dodge another volley of spears. _'This metal guy is much faster than he looks!'_ **"****Senjin ****no Bakusō****!"** Natsu hurled his crimson spear into Reina, but silver warrior dashed forward and stood between magic spear and his mistress. Spear landed a direct hit into **Shirubā Enperā**, mutilating it once more, but one second later the statue regained its original form as Natsu was forced to dodge another volley of spears.

"What's wrong, bounty hunter? Having troubles?" Reina mocked Natsu as he was unable to even get close to her.

"Shut up bitch!" Natsu dashed to Reina at high speed, yet he was not fast enough to hit her as silver warrior blocked his way and tried to hit Natsu with his silver sword. Natsu parried the attack by Heavenly Blossom, but while he was focused on silver warrior Reina herself dashed to him and slammed her silver-covered fist into Natsu's face, throwing him back.

'_Damn, I have to move faster or I'll never get to her'_ Natsu thought as he avoided another volley of spears. "So be it, **Sentō Chūkaku!"** Natsu shouted as his body was cloaked in an aura of crimson light. Second later he dashed toward Reina at least two times faster than before. This time silver warrior's speed was no match with Natsu's, God slayer almost flew to the target and slammed his fist into Reina's face **"****Senjin no Saiken!"**

"**Shirubā Shīrudo!"** Reina tried to protect herself by silver shield once more, but this time it was unable to completely block Natsu's attack. Natsu shattered she shield as blast threw the silver claimer away.

"Curse you!" She yelled as her silver vortices started to fell from the sky and move toward Reina. Soon they formed a round silver wall around silver claimer while her silver Emperor continued to attack Natsu.

With his speed and strength been enhanced Natsu could easily dodge from any of statue's attacks, but he still has no chance to destroy Reina's liquid silver wall with this thing constantly attacking him.

"My silver emperor won't stop until it smashes you down!" Reina shouted as silver warrior made another attack which Natsu dodged. Natsu shot a glance toward Erza – she continued her battle with Erigor, and it seems he appeared to be much tougher than Natsu thought. Obviously – calling for Erza's support is not an option, besides, it's his duty to protect his beloved woman, not the opposite.

'_May be I should use my __**Tonryūsoku**__ spell to blast this stupid thing along with Reina?'_ Natsu thought about using his currently most powerful spell. _'No, it's not an option, it's obviously will cause panic – city is too close…'_ Also Natsu was not sure about its effectiveness in this case, the spell intended to obliterate multiple weak targets, one well-protected enemy could withstand it… _'But what other options do I have? This statue are almost alive, I can't rid of it… wait, alive? Yes, that's it!'_ Natsu suddenly got an idea.

"Okay Reina, that was fun. But I'm running out of time, so I'm going to destroy your clown first and you just wait for your turn!" Natsu shouted as Heavenly Blossom glinted in his arm.

"I'd like to see you try, my silver emperor is invincible!" Erza almost laughed at Natsu's statement.

"We'll see soon enough, **Shinunoru ****Tōryūgi**: Mujihisō!" Blue magic glow covered entire blade of Heavenly Blossom as Natsu dashed toward silver warrior and plunged his sword right into its chest.

"Ha, my silver emperor will restore himself even if he will be blasted to pieces. Do you think your sword will be of use?" Reina mocked Natsu as she fought that he already desperate. "You simply can't defea… huh?" Silver claimer suddenly became silent as she noticed that her silver warrior no is longer moving.

Liquid silver around the point where Natsu's sword pierced the statue began to become black. Blackness started to spread quickly, covering the whole statue. CLANK… clanc, clanc… CRACK! With loud metallic clang whole silver emperor turned to black dust.

"H… How?!" Reina asked, she definitely was shocked. "_No one_ was able to destroy my **Shirubā Enperā** before!"

"I am not a "no one", Reina" Natsu smirked. He was quite worn out but very pleased by himself. He rushed toward silver claimer and slashed the silver wall that was around silver claimer several times. As before, blackness started to spread along the whole wall, and few seconds later it turned into black dust, leaving Reina completely unprotected. She made a several steps back "Who are you?! God damn you!"

Natsu extended his arms forward "I have to admit – I had a hard time fighting you… but life is more interesting that way, don't you think?" Natsu asked with smile before casting his spell **"****Senjin no Yōshihō!**" A broad, powerful beam of energy flew forward silver claimer and produced a powerful blast, smashing her to the rock and knocking her unconscious.

* * *

"Natsu!" Suddenly God slayer heard quite angry voice behind him. He turned around only to see Erza coming close to him, and for some reason she looked like fire-spitting dragon much more than usual.

"Erza? What's wrong?" Natsu asked in surprise. Everything turned out well, enemies are defeated, masters are saved – there are no reasons for her to be angry at him… at least he thought so.

She came close, still wearing her flight armor, which was more like fancy attire, revealing her perfect body. "What's wrong? Well, do you remember that when we started dating, you told me that I'm the only woman that you find physically attractive?" She asked with some threat in her voice.

"Yes, I do" Natsu asked passionlessly.

"Really? And you are sure you're never wanted more than one woman… especially at the same time? Never wanted some threesome… with Mirajane, for example?" She came closer and closer, making Natsu to do several steps back until he found himself pressed to the rock. Natsu was taller than Erza for about 3.5 inches, but right now he shrink a little…

"W-Who could tell you something like this?" Natsu muttered in fear before turning to Sin "Why did you told her about this?!"

Sin tried to think some answer but nothing came into his bone skull.

"Erza listen, that was almost three years ago! I was not even a man back then, just an immature teenager! The thing that I told you was, is and will be truth – you are only woman in my entire life! It is sealed not just by word but by magic itself!" Natsu tried to exonerate himself.

Erza stood silently for several seconds before taking a deep breath and looking into his eyes as her internal voice said _'It's hopeless Erza, you know you can't be angry at him for long so just give it up.' _"Yes, I know…" She answered to herself before encasing Natsu into tight hug. "After all what I went through in my childhood… I fell into eternal love to you… Oh, I must have been a really terrible person in my previous life..." She quietly whispered into his ear.

"Oh Erza… You're so silly… I'm yours and yours alone" He answered, tenderly caressing her back.

She looked at him with her unique smile, sincere and kind yet slightly sad as she ex-equipped her armor for her casual clothes – white sleeveless shirt and blue skirt. "Okay, what's next?" She asked but instead of answer she found herself roughly pressed to the rock as Natsu sealed her lips with his, gaining a moan from her.

"Try to guess…" He said when he broke their kiss. Erza was dirty and she got several bruises, but Natsu found her extremely coveted in this state for some reason.

"Umm…" She groaned and licked her lips "…I'm guessing… after approximately 40 seconds we'll have to explain the situation to Lucy and Gray" She said with her eyes closed.

"What?" Natsu was slightly stunned by her answer.

"I can hear the noise from the vehicle and their voices. They are almost here…" She giggled a little at Natsu's face as he made a face-palm. None of them noticed that all three eye-sockets of the flute, which still lay near Reina's body, started to glow.

* * *

Spell list:

**Rarabai** - Lullaby

**Majikku 4-hoīru bīkuru** – Magical 4-Wheel Vehicle

**Seirei Madōshi** – Stellar Spirit Mage

**Seirei** – Stellar Spirit

**Barugo** – Virgo

Erigor's spells:

**Mafū Heki** – Magic Wind Wall

**Uindo Burēdo** – Wind Blade

**Sutōmu Buringā** – Storm Bringer

**Sutōmu ****Shureddā** – Storm Shredder

**Sutōmu ****Uōru** – Storm Wall

**Sutōmu Meiru** – Storm Mail

**Sutōmu Burasuto** – Storm Blast

**Hauringu Harikēn** – Howling Hurricane

**Majikku Uindo Pāmu** – Magic Wind Palm

**Emera Baramu** – Emerald Flurry

Reina's spells:

**Shirubā Sufia** – Silver Sphere

**Shirubā Hoippu** – Silver Whip

**Shirubā Shīrudo** – Silver Shield

**Shirubā Borēshūto** – Silver Volley

**Shirubā Supia Rein** – Silver Spear Rain

**Shirubā Enperā** – Silver Emperor

Erza's Spells:

**Enryū no Kōken** – Flame Dragon's Steel Fist

**Enryū no Yokugeki** – Flame Dragon's Wing Attack

**Enryū no Hōkō** – Flame Dragon's Roar

**Enryū no Sōkon** – Flame Dragon's Maim

**Enryū no Jinkaku** – Flame Dragon's Blade Horn

**Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Heaven's Wheel Armor

**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Flight Armor

**Toriniti Sōdo** – Trinity Sword

**Sonikku Kurou** – Sonic Claw (Lit. – Sonic Crow)

Natsu's spells:

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

**Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin no Sōken** – War God's Twin Swords

**Senjin no Bakusō** – War God's Explosive Spear

**Senjin no Yōshihō** – War God's Proton Cannon

**Sentō Chūkaku** – Combat Core (It's an analogue of dragon slayer's "Drive" self-amplification spell)

**Akukan Chimyōshō** – Chill Bane

**Shinunoru ****Tōryūgi**: Mujihisō – Death Knight Combat Style: Merciless Frost

**Tonryūsoku** – Chaos Dragon's Breath

* * *

Well, that's it!

I hope it was enjoyable for you. And I would like to know your opinion about this chapter, so be sure to **REVIEW** it!

I think you may have some questions – feel free to ask in review section, I'll try to answer them all =)

See you in the next chapter – **Chapter VII – Zeref's Legacy!**


	7. The Zeref's Legacy

Okay, first I have to say this – FT manga really driving me nuts! Few chapters ago Mashima started to turn Lucy's character into Resha Valentine (Strong and brave girl). Now he turned her into a clown…

Natsu saw Lucy naked and… no reaction. Ah, no – he complained about it… He is really so dense or he just thinks of her as of a foolish young sister?

Erza again almost died, and this time she almost died on the background. And emo-kid came to save her…

Oh, I can't get it, but series become more and more weird with each new chapter.

Anyway, let's continue with the story.

* * *

Answers for the reviews:

**Silent Reader 6100:** Thank's man.

**KingZthe1st, xlCamperr: **All right people, I heard you call and I'm going to proof that I'm not an enemy of my readers xD From now on and onward I'm going to put the translation for the spell's name right after the name itself each time when the new spell has been used in chapter. The translation will be in square brackets, marked by underlined font. Example: **"****Karyū no Hōkō!"** [Fire Dragon's Roar] The complete spell list will be duplicated at the end of the chapter, as usual.

**BlackNature:** Nope, sorry if the spell name confused you but Natsu is not a dragon slayer and he won't become one. I'm added the note about spell in the beginning of chapter 6, please refer to it.

**Toaneo07 Ver2.0:** Nice guess, but… no, it's not that dragon =) I know, I even mentioned chapter 328 myself, but… well, Natsu and Erza are both mistaken. I already had placed some little hints about Erza's magic… The truth about her dragon will be revealed during Galuna Island ark. This ark is boring so I'm going to alter it severely.

Actually, I considered about dozen of different dragons for Erza. Few not too original, like Frost Dragon (poor Gray=)) or Water Dragon (Poor Jubia xD). Few more original, like Steam Dragon or Forest Dragon. But in the end I decided to use the one I decided to use =) If you really wanna know and you not afraid of spoilers – PM me and I'll tell you what is this dragon =)

**Gordaime:** Many thanks.

**FanFictionHunter:** Yeah, as I mentioned several times – Natsu has a backup magic and this is it. Too bad I never played any of GoW games so I can't completely get your remark about Kratos =)

**Mira-san:** Many thanks.

**Negligible1:** Appreciate your opinion, but I never planned to include too much drama in this story. May be another time I'll make an "I love my rival" kind of story.

**Everyone:** Thanks for the reviews people, now let's continue. This chapter contains the conclusion for Eisenwald's arc and trial event (It was quite boring, so I decided to use short version – I want to move to the Galuna island's ark ASAP – I think I will be able to surprise you once more =))

* * *

**Chapter VII – Zeref's Legacy**

…

"Oh… They spoiled such a moment..." Natsu mumbled sadly as he was encased into tight cuddle when Erza leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Oh Natsu... My beloved Natsu... You are so cute..." She whispered into his ear, slightly touching it by her lips. Her hot breath was so passionate and lips were so soft that Natsu groaned from pleasure. Few moments later the magical four-wheel vehicle appeared from behind the large rock as Lucy's voice called out for two slayers.

"Natsu! Erza!" Her voice sounded quite weak – it's obvious that she was exhausted because she had used most of her magic to fuel up the magical vehicle – but still it was loud enough to distinguish the notes of worry.

"Sorry guys but you are late, the circus has already left our town – there is nothing to look here… Ouch!" Natsu's speech was interrupted as Erza stepped on his foot to shut him up.

Vehicle stopped near Erigor's body and Gray hopped off to the ground. Lucy unplugged S.E. cable from her wrist and tried to stand up too but her legs refused to hold her and she did not fell out from the vehicle only because Gray managed to timely catch her.

"Hey Lucy, are you okay?" Sin asked as he flew closer to stellar mage.

"Y-yeah… I'm just exhausted a little… Don't worry about me…" Lucy answered as she got off from the vehicle, leaning on Gray's shoulder.

"Gray, you let her use her magic along the entire route?" Sin wondered as he, Gray and Lucy moved toward Natsu and Erza, who still stood near Reina's body.

"No, I myself insisted that he let me to power up the vehicle so Gray could spare his magic power in case if Natsu and Erza will be in need of help…" Lucy explained with weak smile as Sin Incredulously looked at Gray.

"Anyway, as I told you Lucy – these two managed to handle this case just fine" Gray noted as they came closer to the slayers.

"Yep, now the guild masters and townspeople are safe, also I managed to capture the criminal that escaped me once, so now my conscience is clean" Natsu agreed as he took the flute in his hands and he and Erza began to examine it. "Strange… I have an odd feeling about this thing… Like it's not just a tool…" Natsu scratched his hair, uncertain about his findings.

"I think we should bring it to the master" Erza stated "Since we're here already… We might as well go see our master at the meeting place. We need to report the details about this incident, also we can ask about what to do with the flute…" Erza hesitated a few second "…and I think we should tell him about us" She turned to Natsu.

"I doubt that it will be a surprise, I bet Mira sent him a letter as soon as she returned from the station…" Natsu guessed, making Erza to slightly growl in annoyance.

'_She is more girlish than I thought…'_ Lucy made a note to herself as she saw how Erza became slightly upset because Mirajane do not let her tell to the master about the wedding in person.

"Sometimes I'm sorry that she is our only waitress and I cannot punch her as hard as she deserves…" Dragon-mage snorted.

'…_or maybe not'_ Stellar mage mentally made a face-palm.

"Anyway, town of Clover is just ahead, you two can proceed on the vehicle and we will go on foot…" Natsu was interrupted by Sin's voice.

"Natsu, look!" Little dragon shouted and pointed behind him, at Reina's body. Everyone looked that way only to see that silver claimer regained consciousness… and placed her **Shirubā Sufia** [Silver Sphere] on her own chest.

"No way… I'm going to the cell… See you in hell… Dragneel…" Reina croaked as sphere started to shine.

"What the…?!" Natsu shouted as he dashed toward Reina, fell on his knees and grabbed the silver sphere by his left hand. Blue flame immediately engulfed the sphere and it's started to become black. Few seconds later **Shirubā Sufia** turned into black dust. "Are you insane?! What the hell are you thinking?!" Natsu yelled at silver claimer but she only smiled.

"Just as I thought… Your magic… It is the **Kuroi Geijutsu** [Black Arts]… You are **Shi no Mahō** [Death Magic] user…" She croaked with satisfied look.

Lucy gasped at this statement as Gray sighed heavily.

"Now you will let me go… Or I'll tell about your magic to the council… I wonder what they will do…" Green-haired woman said with nasty smile on her face.

"Oh, you dirty bitch! You're not tried to kill yourself, do you?! You just wanted to force Natsu to use his magic?!" Erza growled angrily. "I'll rip your head off right now!"

"Easy easy, my love. She costs a lot of money, so we need her alive…" Natsu calmed his short-tempered beauty before turning back to Reina. "Yes, it's **Shi no Mahō**. I never wanted this magic, but I was young and curious. I got it unwillingly, it mutilated my hand and almost killed me. I'm forced to wear this damned glove since then to hide my arm from everyone. However, every cloud has a silver lining. And now I'm going to show you that you should not mess with **Shi no Mahō**…" Natsu smiled and placed his left palm on Reina's forehead as silver claimer gulped in fear "…**Nōtōkei** [Brain Freeze]"

Blue energy discharged into Reina's head, knocking her unconscious once again.

"What have you done?!" Lucy asked in shock "Did you…" She could not say it aloud.

"Lucy, you are not listened? I just told that I need her alive" Natsu said with a raised eyebrow. "I just destroyed her brain cells that contain recent reminiscence, irreversibly wiping out all of the memories that she got during last five hours. She will be surprised when she will regain consciousness again…" Natsu chuckled a little "…and now she will have problems with short-term memory for the rest of her life, but this is a punishment for attempt of blackmailing me"

"Lucy, I know – this is not the easiest thing to accept, but you should understand that magic itself are not good or evil. Its alignment depends completely on mage who uses it, even when it is **Kuroi Geijutsu**… this is one of the first thing that Natsu helped me to understand" Erza said softly as she cuddle her fiancé.

"We understood this together…" Natsu said as he inhaled soft scent of her hair.

Lucy stood silently, obviously she was still shocked by this revelation and she required some time to stomach it, by the way it seems that it was not such a revelation for Gray – looks like he talked about it with master and got some answers.

"All right people – we have to go to the Clover town. We'll go on foot, you two – take the vehicle. Sin – go with them" Natsu said as he slung Reina's body over his shoulder. Erza took the flute.

* * *

"Still thinking about Natsu?" Sin asked as he, Lucy and Gray moved toward Clover town aboard the magical vehicle. Since Gray had no need to save his magic anymore he plugged himself to the S.E. Plug. Moreover, it should be a short trip.

"This is how we met…" Sin started to explain "…I am not the one who should tell you this story, but I want to clarify some things about his magic. It's called **Shinunoru T****ōr****y****ū****gi** [Death Knight Combat Style]. Actually, it's a kind of **Ken no Mahō** [Sword Magic], which utilizes one of the **Shi no Mahō** types to power up sword's attacks, specifically **Shis****ō**** Geijutsu** [Death Frost Art]. **Shinunoru ****T****ōr****y****ū****gi** has limited use without sword, however its frost powers could be used directly in some occasions, but at costs of a huge amount of magic energy. It took some time to learn to control it properly, but Natsu did it, so now he can use it as a backup magic" Sin finished explanation.

"Thanks Sin, I understood..." Lucy perked up slightly "…I just need some time to process all the information I received today." It was a truth – Lucy's head buzzed from huge amount of things that she learned today – Dragon Lacrima, Death Magic… it was just too much.

"Take you time. Our mission accomplished, soon we'll talk to the master and after it we'll be free to go home" Gray said from driver's seat.

* * *

Clover town, Guildmasters League meeting hall. July 8, 19:00.

Lucy, Gray and Sin were sitting in the magical four-wheeler near meeting hall, awaiting for Natsu and Erza to arrive. During this time Sin explained the situation about Eisenwald's plan, as well as Reina's intentions.

"So, Reina and Erigor had quite different views on the possible outcome of their mission?" Lucy asked as Sin explained to Lucy and Gray that silver claimer just wanted to feather her nest feather.

"Yep" Little dragon confirmed.

"It's not so easy to say it, but I'm really glad that we have mages like Natsu and Erza around. Without their strength some terrible things could have happened…" Gray admitted as he looks at the meeting hall where guild masters were.

"Yeah…" Lucy said with a bit sad smile "…but, to be honest, when they are around I feel my lack of magic powers especially keenly. Moreover… may be it will sound silly but… I feel sorry for those Eisenwald members…" Lucy sighed, it seems that she really feels pity for poor fools who actually were simply manipulated by cunning woman "…I think they too felt themselves weak and they really thought that if they succeed – everything will change after that…"

"Nothing would have changed…" quiet voice interrupted Lucy. Three turned around only to see their own guild master – Makarov, who stood behind them. "…weaklings will stay weak forever. But weakness is not evil, since human beings are weak creatures to begin with. Alone you feel nothing but insecurity; that's why we form guilds. That's why we have nakama. We walk together in order to live a strong life…"

Natsu and Erza arrived at meeting hall location, but they came closer silently as they too could hear master's speech (especially Erza) but they decided not to interrupt him and let Lucy to hear him out till the end.

"…The clumsy ones will run into more walls than the others and it may also take them longer to get there…" Both dragon-mage and God slayer sighed simultaneously at this phrase – they definitely met many walls on their paths "…but if you believe in tomorrow and put yourself out there, you can naturally obtain your strength. That's how you'll be able to smile and live strong, without having to depend on cunning allies and their flutes, of course" Makarov finished with a leery smirk.

'_Amazing… he already knows everything…'_ Lucy thought as she listened to the master's speech with wonderstruck awe.

"Thank you, master…" Lucy said with thankful smile as another two persons came close to them – master Bob and master Goldmine.

"Nice speech Maki" Bob said with his common playful voice.

"Wh… Who is it?!" Lucy asked as she looked at Bob's extremely weird appearance.

"That's… Blue Pegasus master…" Gray gulped and few seconds later Lucy understood why ice mage got this kind of reaction.

"Oh, this boy is so cute…" Bob said with playful smile as he looked at Gray, freaking him out.

"Stop it Bob, we have another matter to attend to…" Goldmine said as he too came close to Makarov.

"This is Goldmine – master of Quatro Cerberus!" Sin exclaimed as Makarov began sweating all over again.

'_He's right, I have to find these two, otherwise a town might disappear!'_ Makarow thought in fear before addressing to the ice mage "Gray, where is Natsu and Erza?"

"We're here master!" Erza shouted as she and Natsu appeared from the forest, hand in hand. "You are amazing! Your words deeply touched me!"

"Sorry for being late, we had to visit the local garrison to turn in Reina and Erigor for bounty" Natsu stated carelessly "I need some money to make a refractory lining in our bedroom, otherwise, in the heat of passion she might burn down my entire house," he added, gaining a slap on the back of his head from Erza, who was blushing heavily yet smiling happily.

Everyone gulped at this statement as Makarov's sighed deeply – his last hope that Mirajane exaggerated a little was smashed into pieces just now.

"So, I assume that relationships between you two are really serious?" Goldmine asked.

Instead of answer Natsu turned to Erza and slightly moved the fabric of her shirt, exposing her right shoulder blade, partially revealing a crimson, round drawing, about ten centimeters in diameter. It looked like magic seal that Natsu usually creates when he casts his spells.

"What is it?" Lucy asked as Goldmine gave a nod as a sign that he got the answer for his question.

"It's called "The seal of the God" Lucy. The person who was marked by this seal is bound to the owner of the seal by unbreakable magic…" Makarov explained with strange face expression. However, he understood by now that he has no other choice but to congratulate the couple. "All right, congratulations you two!" He said cheerfully.

"Thank you, jii-san!" Natsu slightly bowed to Makarov.

"Thank you master!" Erza exclaimed with happy smile.

"Oh my… to bad that so handsome boy is already taken…" Bob said, covering his face and making fearless Natsu to shiver a little.

"Master – here is the flute" Erza said as she pulled out a flute and moved to master to hand it over "We thought that you should take a looYYAH!..." Dragon mage yelped as she tripped over the root of one of the trees and fell face down, dropping the flute.

"She just said 'Yah'?!" Lucy gulped slightly.

"That was… quite cute…" Gray stuttered as Sin made a face-palm.

"Speaking about clumsiness…" Natsu smiled as he helped his lovely but gawky girlfriend to stand up and embraced her tenderly.

Erza smiled thankfully as suddenly strange and horrible voice came from behind: "A BUNCH OF PATHETIC COWARDLY FOOLS, EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Akuma Deliora)

Everyone turned around only to see that all three **Rarabai's** [Lullaby] eye-sockets started to glow as flute herself began erupting violet smoke and lightning.

"Something's coming out!" Erza shouted.

"Told you that I had an odd feeling about this thing!" Natsu exclaimed.

"What is going on?!" Lucy yelled.

The amount of smoke started to increase drastically as huge magic seal appeared in the sky.

"I CAN'T HOLD IT ANY LONGER! MY HUNGER BECAME UNBEARABLE, I'LL JUST EAT YOU ALL MYSELF!" Doubtlessly – the voice was coming from the flute, and it becomes louder each second. Everyone looked in shock as a huge mist cloud started to assume shape.

"The flute talked?! How's that possible?!" Lucy asked with saucer-wide eyes.

"Look! The smoke – its forming a shape!" Sin exclaimed as he pointed to the huge smoke cloud. Huge magic seal started to glow and soon collapsed, giving a final shape to the smoke cloud. It turned into extremely tall tree-like beast that has three eyes, two legs, two arms and one head. There are many cutouts in its body.

"LET ME CONSUME… YOUR PITIFUL SOULS!" Huge tree roared watching at the group of mages.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Natsu mumbled to himself.

"Oh my… This is bad…" Bob said, shyly covering his mouth.

"It's the devil from the book of Zeref!" Goldmine shouted, clenching his teeth as Erza grabbed Natsu's left hand, entwining her fingers with his.

Several local guild masters assembled near the window to look at the events that were happening outside.

"This is not looking so good" One of them said.

"Shall we help out?" Another one asked.

"My back hurt… I think I'll pass…" Third one stuttered.

"I'M STARVING TO DEATH… SO I'M GONNA EAT YOUR SOULS!" Huge demon roared, taking one step toward meeting hall, shaking entire town.

"Look who's talking! Today we'll dine on the ancient demon, people!" Natsu shouted. Looks like he was not too scared by its size or threats.

"Natsu, don't make this huge thing angry…" Lucy pleaded by scared voice, She was shaking all over. "Master… What… is going on? How could a devil come out of the flute?"

"That devil is the **Rarabai** itself. Meaning it's a living magic." Goldmine explained as he observed the demon "It's Zeref's magic"

"Living magic…" Erza mumbled, tightening her grip on Natsu's mutilated arm.

"Zeref?! You mean, Zeref from the ancient times?!" Gray asked, clenching his teeth, it was hard to believe since Zeref must have died long ago.

"Dark mage Zeref is the most atrocious mage in the history of magic…" Bob explained with weird smile on his face. "I never imagined that this adverse legacy from several hundred years ago would reappear…"

"NOW, WHOSE SOUL SHALL I ENJOY FIRST?" Giant tree asked, examining the crowd of mages, many local guild masters came outside to see what's happening. "I'VE DECIDED… ALL OF YOUR SOULS, YOU PITIFUL WIZARDS!"

(End of song)

"Gray, are you ready?" Erza turned to the ice mage.

"Ready as I ever been" Gray confirmed, preparing for battle.

"Let's roll then! Let battle rejoice!" Natsu shouted and three Fairy Tail mages rushed into the fight.

"You can do this!" Several guild masters cheered up for team Natsu.

"What do they plan to do with just the three of them? Lucy asked uncertainly.

"Why didn't you join them Lucy?" Sin asked as he landed on her shoulder.

"Sorry, I used all my magic to power up the magical vehicle and I might just hold everyone back, see…" Lucy said by defensive tone. Sin remained silent, looks like he believed her.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Mahou Taisen)

**Rarabai** made a deep breath, creating a huge magic seal in the skies and devouring life from the surrounding vegetation.

"**Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [The Knight: Heaven's Wheel Armor] Erza shouted as magic light covered whole her body and she once again equipped her four-winged armor and used its ability to levitate. With full force she slashed the monster by her dual swords, eliciting a dust cloud and making a large hole in demon's right side.

"**Aisu Meiku: Ransu!"** [Ice Make: Lances] Gray once again stood into his stance, putting his fist over his palm and created a multiple lances made of ice that he directed toward Zeref's devil to impale him, creating several holes and causing the **Rarabai** to wail from pain.

While Erza and Gray distracted the demon, Natsu managed to climb up on its body. **"Senjin no Sentsui!** [War God's Warhammer] God slayer created a large hammer, composed of crimson energy, and smashed it into devil's chest, creating another large hole and causing the **Rarabai** to take a step back.

"No kidding! He made this huge thing to step back with one blow!" Someone exclaimed as local guild masters observes the battle in awe.

**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito** [The Knight: Flight Armor] Erza ex-equipped her flight armor once more and moved for another attack. **"Sonikku Kurou!"** [Sonic Claw] Knight-mage quickly rushed along beast's body, making several new holes by quick blows. When she was near demon's belly Erza jumped and turned around in midair, raising her hands and forming large flame halberd between her palms. Next second she hurled it into demon's chest **"Enryū no Nengeki!"** [Flame Dragon's Blazing Halberd]. Burning bolt landed a direct hit, producing a bright explosion and causing the demon to scream… and causing Makarov to blink in surprise.

**Aisu Meiku: Ōto Shot Tobou** [Ice Make: Auto Shot Bow] Gray created a bow of ice and launched a barrage of ice arrows to the beast.

"How about another one?!" Natsu shouted slamming his fists together, creating a magic seal and extending his arms forward **"Senjin no Yōshihō!"** [War God's Proton Cannon] A broad, powerful beam of energy flew forward giant beast and produced a powerful blast, forcing him to make another step back.

Local guild masters watched in awe at team Natsu's fight with Zeref's devil as bright blue, yellow and crimson flares were flashing in the sky.

"Look! She's ex-equipping armor and hurling flame spells!"

"And this one is an ice wizard!"

"What kind of magic this guy is using?"

"YOU'RE REALLY PISSING ME OFF NOW!" Giant beast bellowed and tried to smash team Natsu with his huge claw. Beast smashed an entire mountain, but Gray, Natsu and Erza managed to avoid this attack and continued their onslaught.

"**Aisu Meiku: Aisu Kyanon!"** [Ice Make: Ice Cannon] Gray created a large, long-barreled cannon made of ice and fired a cannonball, also made of ice, to deal massive amount of damage to the target.

"Natsu!" Erza called out for her beloved, engulfing her right leg in flames.

"Yeah!" Natsu nodded and jumped toward beast as essence of destruction engulfed his own right leg.

"**Enryū no Sōkon!"** [Flame Dragon's Maim]

"**Senjin ****no Shōkya!****"** [War God's Shock Leg]

They both performed similar leg attack, utilizing their respective element, producing a massive explosion and creating a huge hole in devil's back.

"Amazing! I've never seen such a combination attack before!" Lucy exclaimed excitedly as she watched the battle.

"Yep, their movements are perfectly in sync – this is the real Fairy Tail style!" Sin agreed with Lucy completely.

"Go forth! Show our strength to everyone!" Makarov shouted, cheering for his "children."

(End of song)

Pissed off, **Rarabai **roared and took a deep breath, preparing to use its **Noroiwa Utau** [Cursed Song].

"I don't have a good feeling about this…" Lucy exclaimed, nervously clenching her teeth.

"Relax Lucy, this thing is just wasting his time now" Sin calmed her down with pleased smirk.

Zeref's demon continued to inhale the air, consuming life from surrounding grass fields and trees.

"Look, the plains are withering!" Lucy pointed at the blackened grass.

"Yeah, it's the curse of the Lullaby. But trust me – you have nothing to worry about…" Sin remained calm and confident.

"I'LL BE DINING ON YOUR SOULS!" The demon bellowed, preparing to unleash his cursed magic.

"RRAAAARRRGGGHHH!" Demon roared, releasing the air through his cutouts.

Everyone covered their ears, except for Makarov, Goldmine and Sin, all three looked at demon with bold smiles.

**Rarabai** started to play its song… and nothing happened. Because it was not a song – it was a random set of inarticulate sounds.

Devil's jaw dropped in surprise and shock.

"What the heck?!" Lucy asked, looking like a gaping fish "It did not do anything!"

"I told you – nothing to worry about" Sin stated carelessly.

"WHAT'S WITH THIS SOUND?! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BEAUTIFUL SOUND?!" Demon wailed in shock, if it was not made from wood it definitely would be sweating all over.

"You see – after all those attack from before…" Sin started to explain but Lucy suddenly understood the idea.

"They opened up a bunch of more holes, so he can't play properly!" Stellar mage exclaimed in sudden realization. "So, after all this build up, this is the punchline?" Blonde addressed to the demon, who still stood in deep shock and confusion.

"Look, his stomach is empty!" Sin mocked the **Rarabai**.

"SCREW YOU! HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME!" Monster bellowed in fury and destroyed another mountain by the leg kick.

"He's snapped!" One of the local guild masters shouted.

"Both big and bad-tempered!" Another one exclaimed.

Demon's eyes started to glow as he prepared to use his beam attack. Gray immediately dashed to position in front of guild masters and used his magic **"Aisu Meiku: ****Shīrudo!"** [Ice Make: Shield]

"He won't make it in time! We'll get hit!" Someone yelled in panic.

However, Gray made it just in time. Demon's beam hit the shield, making everyone to cover their eyes from bright light. Large, flower-like shield made of ice withstood the attack, which created a large firewall in front of shield. No one was hurt, and everyone stared at **Zōkei Madōshi** [Molding Mage] in awe.

"So fast!" One of the guild masters said in amazement.

"He can use **Zōkei no Mahō** [Molding Magic] to create something that large instantly?" Another guild master wondered.

"**Zōkei no Mahō?"** Lucy questioned.

"The type of magic that gives a form to magical power" Sin explained "There's also magic that can steal form away…" Little dragon added with a smirk, causing Lucy to gulp slightly.

"DAMN YOU!" Monster yelled, frustrated because his attack was blocked.

Suddenly the firewall, which was created by **Rarabai's** attack, started to twist and move, turning into a dozen of flame tendrils, which flew directly into Erza's mouth. She consumed everything, but again slightly chocked at the end, gaining Natsu's attention. _'Strange…'_ God slayer thought.

Erza, however was not taken aback. "Embrace the flame!" She exclaimed as her eyes blazed with bright yellow flame.

"Sin, can we talk for a moment?" Makarov asked as a little bone dragon tried to hide behind Lucy. Master definitely desired an explanation about Erza's new abilities, and he was sure that it somehow connected to Natsu.

"YOU… YOU'RE FRIGGIN' MONSTER!" Giant beast roared and slammed his fist into the mound, on which Erza stood, destroying it.

"How did you called me?!" Erza bellowed in fury as she climbed on monster's arm. At the same time Natsu began to climb on monster's body by his leg.

"**Aisu Meiku: Sōsā!" **[Ice Make: Saucer] Gray shouted, creating a large disk made of ice, with spikes at its edge and launched it into the demon. Disk hit the target, causing the demon to partially lose his balance. "Natsu, Erza! Your ball – finish this thing off!" Ice mage shouted.

"**Kureha no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [Black Wing Armor: The Knight (Lit. from KanJi – Black Feather)] Erza shouted, ex-equipping another armor. The armor was black with silver trimming that had silver crosses in several places. It has a revealing silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reach down to her waistguard. The waistguard leaves the front of her body exposed, with her groin being covered by a dark imbuement. She had large plates guarding her legs. She had two wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure, but the parts used to fly were composed of a membrane-like material. Erza's hair was now in a ponytail. Immediately, the Guild Masters fell in love with the armor (and Erza herself).

"Oh!" exclaimed one of the masters.

"The Black Wing armor! That's a magic armor that add tremendous power to a single attack!" Several guild masters exclaimed simultaneously with hearts in their eyes.

"**Kureha: Gessen!"** [Black Wings: Moon Flash] She swung her sword, slashing the monster in a cross pattern with extremely powerful blow.

"**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Massatsu!" **[Death Knight Combat Style: Obliterate] Natsu has charged the Heavenly Blossom with deathfrost magic and landed a devastating blow to the demon's neck at the same time as Erza's slashing attack reached demon's groin. Combined attack stunned the beast, making it vulnerable to the final blow.

"Let's do it!" Natsu shouted as crimson energy engulfed his legs and he jumped in the air.

Erza just nodded as she turned around in mid-air to face toward **Rarabai.**

Both slayers raised their hands and began to cast spells:

**Natsu:** "When you brought destruction to the west...

And you brought destruction to the east...

Scavengers will have their feast…"

**Erza:** "With a blaze in the right hand...

And a blaze in the left hand...

When you combine two blazes together..."

**Natsu:** **"****Senjin ****no Ukyogun****!"** [War God's Raven Flock]

**Erza:** **"Enryū no Yōnen!"** [Flame Dragon's Radiant Blaze]

Natsu created a large energy cluster, which contained a hundred of crimson essences, each essence had a shape of a bird. "It's time for you to join your creator, demon!" God slayer shouted and launched his spell into demon.

Erza made a huge solid fireball, composed of bright, glimmering flame. "You're hungry?! Then try eating some of this!" Dragon-knight yelled and hurled the huge fireball into the **Rarabai.**

Both spells collided with the target, Erza's fireball produced a massive blast at demon's chest as Natsu's raven flock created multiple explosions along **Rarabai's** whole body. Zeref's devil was struck by the two combined attacks, which caused **Rarabai** to be smashed on the ground as it screamed, blowing up into pieces as a ray of light shot into the dark sky. The light vanished and demon was defeated, sparkles of remaining magic fell from the above, leaving just the flute on the ground.

"Excellent!" Makarov remarked, hands behind his back.

"…Marvelous!" Bob commented.

"One of Zeref's demons, defeated so easily…" Goldmine smiled.

"Incredible!" Lucy admired in awe as the dust revealed Natsu, Erza and Gray, all standing together, looking victoriously. Natsu holding on to his sword, Gray with his arms folded, and Erza standing with her right hand to her hip.

"So this is… what Fairy Tail mages are like?!" One of the local guild masters wondered.

"They're the strongest team, all right! That was so cool!" Lucy cheered happily.

"No kidding" Sin agreed, he was still sitting on Lucy's shoulder.

"How about that?! Incredible, aren't they?!" Makarov asked with a boastful smile on his face.

"Terrific! You guys are the best!" Lucy cheered.

"Too easy… He was not anything too special, was he?" Natsu commented as his sword was soaked into his gloved left hand.

"A pushover…" Gray mumbled.

"Yet it was good training dummy, don't you think?" Erza asked, wrapping her hand around Natsu's neck from behind. Natsu frowned as he felt that her breath is a bit heavy, looks like she is slightly exhausted.

As the group was talking, other guild masters were still around, watching them.

"They really are crazy." One of the guild masters stated with a smile on his face. "So young yet already so powerful…"

"Well, I don't know what's going on exactly, but I guess we all owe Fairy Tail one…" Goldmine added arms folded.

"That said, I still think…" another Guild Master said, mouth agape.

Erza blinked in shock as she, Gray and Natsu turned around to see what the matter was. And what they saw confirms what the Guild Masters all said… "…They went overboard!"

"Well, it seems we managed to ravage another place…" Natsu said smiling as he already get used to his team destructiveness.

"Step is the hardest…" Gray commented.

Makarov was shaking in shock while Lucy asked as if she fell into stupidity: "Where'd the regular meeting hall go?"

"And it seems that a two or three mountains are gone, too…" Sin shook his head "…Fairy Tail's style."

Makarov was now white in the face as his shaking cease and a 'soul' came out of his body. His body still as stone as it seemed he died from shock.

"Master!" Lucy asked, witnessing Makarov 'die' in a sense.

"Something came out" Goldmine pointed to the floating soul.

"Master… We're really sorry… we've disgraced you…" Erza muttered as her head hung in regret.

"But that's not what really bothers you…" Natsu smiled as he gently touched her chin, making her look into his eyes "…the real thing that bothers you is that you actually aren't sorry"

"Yes!" Erza admitted, stamping her foot in frustration "Natsu, what's going on with me?! We just brought destruction to the peaceful place and I liked it!"

"Don't you worry, It's just a side effect from the slayer's magic. Welcome aboard!" He cheered carelessly, looking into her eyes.

"You're just crazy, and you're hopeless…" Erza made a deep sight "…and am I too, it seems" She added, resigning to fate, before smiling and pressing her lips to Natsu's with such passion that only Erza might have.

"Master, come back!" Gray called, chasing the soul of his master as an angered mob of guild masters made Lucy scared. Cries of "There they are, get them!" were heard as Goldmine and Bob continued watching.

"Future is definitely in capable hands…" Both guild masters agreed as Lucy and the group, with Makarov in the arms of Gray was being chased away by the angry crowd of Guild Masters.

* * *

Magic council Era. July 10, 10:00 AM

"Even with the Eisenwald having gone under, the main problem has not been solved" Org, the tall man with a little bat on his head, informed the council.

"There are as many dark guilds as there are stars in the sky." Yajima exclaimed.

"Then we should just root them out altogether" Org requested.

"How?" Yajima asked.

Org spoke up again, holding a glass case with the Lullaby flute sealed up. "It's intolerable if anyone would embezzle Zeref's magic again!"

"First of all, how could they have snuck out such magic that easily?" Fat old man asked.

"We might have to call the management to take responsibility" Another councilor noted.

"But Fairy Tail, the one guild that we've been so annoyed with… showed up and saved the day." Seigrain said with a small chuckle.

"They took down the dark guild, two wanted criminals and Zeref's demon with only three or four man" Ultear smiled, covering her mouth.

"Uhg… Rgh…" Several councilors growled in frustration.

"I can understand why you don't want to admit the truth, but that's how it is." Seigrain added calmly. "If the guild masters were killed by the **Rarabai**, things would've been much worse. Some of us here would've certainly been faired."

"Don't be silly! Are you really gonna bring up the matter of responsibility here?!" Org angrily yelled.

"That's out of the question! We're already tearing our hair out over their reckless behavior!" Leiji shouted, smoking from rage.

Seigrain kept smiling before offering his request "You should just show them some appreciation and stop complaining."

* * *

Town of Magnolia, Lucy's house. July 12, 9:00 AM.

Lucy was sitting by her table facing the window while she was writing a letter to someone. Quill in hand, she wrote down the events of the Lullaby incident and her involvement with Natsu, Sin, Gray, and Erza.

'_Eisenwald's attempted attack on the guild masters using the Lullaby instantly became a major news story that sweep across the country. Even now it's hard to believe I was at the center of such a big incident, but here I am, just living another day in my regular little life. To be honest, sometimes I feel excited when I remember that accident, though. As it turns out, most of the Eisenwald members were caught. Erigor and Reina are awaiting for trial. I guess it's only natural. The only scary thing is that may be more dark guilds somewhere out there. What if they decide to do something like Eisenwald tried to do? But it's okay! Fairy Tail has the greatest team of Natsu, Erza and Gray! Oh, and me and Sin too! This is a great guild! So don't worry, Mom! I'm doing fine. P.S. Don't tell Dad about that, okay?'_

With a sigh of relief of finishing her letter, she placed the quill down and the letter folded into an envelope sealed with a stamp. Lucy pondered, wondering what she'll do today now as she finished her letter to her mother.

"Guess I'll go shopping today." She decided getting off her chair to stretch her arms into the sky. "Thrilling adventures are nice and all, but being home sure is relaxing!"

"70,000 Jewel a month is a good price for a place like this." A Sin's voice spoke from behind her.

She turned around to see little bone dragon sitting on the window frame. Despite he tried to look casual Lucy noted his depressed tone.

"Sin? What are you doing here so early? And what's with this look? Is something wrong? Where's Natsu?" Lucy asked several questions but got only one answer.

"I thought you should know – Natsu was arrested about half an hour ago…" Sin informed her with a grim 'face' expression.

"WHAAAT?!"

* * *

Town of Magnolia, Fairy Tail guild hall. July 12, 9:20 AM

As fast as she can Lucy came to the guild hall to get some explanations about the situation. She found the whole guild being depressed as none of them could say anything but the fact what Natsu has been arrested for "Involvement with Eisenwald accident" and only Erza was allowed to accompany him on his way to the Fiore Branch, by unknown reason.

"Our opponent is the council; nothing we can do for now…" Gray spoke out with grim look on his face. "Even if something's white, once a council member says it's black, then it's becomes black. They just won't listen to our excuses." Ice mage added as Max unwillingly agreed with him.

"But why… We've done so many things in the past, so why this time?" Elfman wondered.

"Yeah… I don't understand." Loki agreed.

"I'm certain… I'm certain there's something fishy going on…" Lucy thought aloud.

* * *

Magic council Era. July 12, 9:30 AM

The council messenger lead Natsu and Erza along the large corridor inside magic trial's building. Natsu's hands were tied by magic-restraining shackles. "I still can't understand – why you was allowed to accompany to the accused…" frog-like council messenger asked from Erza.

"No idea" she answered emotionlessly, her face was both stern and calm, of course she was thinking about what was going on. Both she and Natsu have a feeling that something strange is happening here. They followed the massager through the corridor, the sunlight radiating the windows and the room.

"We'll see soon enough, won't we?" Natsu asked casually, unlike Erza he was not too worried. The group turned around the corner and Erza immediately growled angrily. Natsu too saw some figure that stood in shadows, but Erza's dragon eyes definitely were able to distinguish this person. "Siegrain…" She hissed through gritted teeth.

The messenger stopped, he too spotted someone leaning against the pillar. His arms were fold, and his expression was impatient to say the least. He opened his eyes to look the people who had arrived. His lips together, the blue haired council member had his eyes on the scarlet haired mage.

"And here is the answer…" Natsu sighed – surely it was Siegrain's wish to allow Erza to come with Natsu.

"It's been a while, my dear Erza." Azure-haired councilor greeted her.

The massager bowed to the ground to greet the council member, but Erza was furious at the young man. She clenched her fists, it was obvious that she wants to pounce at him and smash him into something.

"Easy Erza, it's just a **Shinentai** [Thought Projection]" Natsu tried to calm down his fiancé.

"Your perception is admirable, Natsu Dragneel" The blue haired member's body appeared to be fizzling as he spoke. "My real body is in Era right now." He continued, looking at the courtroom door, "All the geezers beyond that door are projections, too." Erza's face formed a frown as he went on explaining, "There was no reason for us to personally come for such a small case."

"I see… so this was your doing? It's just nonsense. What do you want from us?" Erza asked through clinched teeth.

"Now, that accusation really hurts me…" Siegrain said with false grievance "I even spoke on behalf of Fairy Tail and your precious boyfriend personally" Seigrain walked pass Erza, his back facing hers "But the geezers feared that they'd be held responsible, so they need a victim to take the blame." He smiled before adding to the stern looking Erza as her right eye was looking back at him. "Your handsome friend here is the scape-goat"

Erza snapped, turning to Seigrain with gritted teeth "Shut up!" It was good that Siegrain stood facing the opposite direction so he did not notice two small streams of fire which blazed from her nose.

Seigrain kept calm before speaking once again, "All right… fine. The reason I came before the trial started…" He came closer to Erza "I assume you told him about _**that**_?" Azure-haired wizard glanced at Natsu. Her answer was silence, so Seig took it as "yes". "It's all right if you do, but none of you two should tell the geezers about _**that**_. It's for our own good. I just don't want a panic in the guilds and magic council to mess up my plans for _**him**_." Siegrain said as he lifted his hand as if to touch her face, "Such beauty… Natsu Dragneel, you are lucky man…"

"You can't even imagine…" Natsu smirked boldly.

"So… I'll be waiting for you two behind that door as a member of the council. Erza, despite you've been allowed to come with him – you are just a mere observer, so be a good girl and keep quiet" And the thought projection faded away, leaving Erza and Natsu in the corridor with the massager. The massager looks up at the scarlet haired mage, her expression full of anger and her eyes sharp like daggers. "Y-You know some real important people…!"

Erza replied sharply, "He's evil."

"Ribbit?" the Massager frog responded. What did Erza mean by that?

"She meant that someone can be a real pain in the ass…" Natsu snorted, looking at courtroom door.

Back in Era, the real Seigrain thought as he walked a serious tone were in his words, _'Don't try to interfere, Erza. Not after I've come this far…'_

Natsu was standing facing the thought projections of each member of the Magic Council. Erza was allowed to enter the room but she has to remain near the courtroom door. A gavel was heard as it was time to begin the trial as the massager announced, "The mage hearing will now come to order." While reading off a paper, he continued, "Defendant Natsu Dragneel. Please take the witness stand."

* * *

Fairy Tail. July 12, 9:50 AM

A certain blond haired Celestial mage stood up from her seat wanting to make a stand about this.

"We can't ignore this after all! Let's testify!" Lucy requested.

"Lucy…" Nab said simply.

"Hold on, now!" said Makarov.

"How can you say that?" Lucy retorted running up to the bar to Makarov, Mira, and the others. "He was unlawfully arrested. Besides whatever property damages or crimes they were talking about, both Gray and I were with him most of the time. Sure there was that head butting, but that's beside the point! We need to get there before they reach verdict."

"It's too late for that, however much we hurry!" Makarov replied eyes closed.

"But…" she replied… but was ignored from this point.

* * *

Magic council Era. July 12, 10:00 AM

"…Defendant Natsu Dragneel. Concerning the terrorism incident at the Eisenwald the other day, you suspected of destroying a part of Oshibana station (yep, Reina's spheres exploded, though damage was lesser than Natsu expected, most likely because Reina was knocked out) and an entire mansion in Clover. Also, according to the witnesses, "the salmon-haired young man, dressed in black one-sleeved coat" pretended to be a council agent to get access to the station…"

* * *

One hour later.

Natsu listened to the 'charges' with eyes half-closed, the hearing took nearly an hour and to the very end of it the fact was obvious – that it's just a formality. The council convicted him in order to appear as if they actually enforce the law, just to keep up appearances so it wouldn't look like they screwed up.

* * *

Twenty more minutes later.

"…So your guild have to provide the compensation for every damage done"

Unsurprisingly, Natsu was found guilty, and, also unsurprisingly – the sentence was very lenient – pay for damage done as Natsu was released in the courtroom.

"Remove the shackles from the defendant" Judge said.

"Don't bother" Natsu smirked, moving his hands apart and shattering the magic-restraining shackles to pieces. "They are for humans…"

Some of the council members gulped a little as Siegrain chuckled.

"You may leave" Judge said.

"Come on, Natsu" Erza smiled with relief, despite she knew it's just a formality she was worried for her beloved God slayer.

As soon as Natsu and Erza had left the courtroom dragon-knight wrapped her hands around Natsu and kissed him.

"Don't say you were worried?" Natsu asked with smile as soon as his lips were released.

"Of course not" Erza stated with her cheeks blushed slightly.

"Fibster" Natsu said softly as he tenderly touched her chin. Of course she was worried, despite she knew for sure – it was just a stupid farce.

"You're so cute couple…" Siegrain's voice called from behind "Just remember, keep _**it**_quiet"

Erza strained again as Natsu made a deep sigh "Leave us alone Siegrain, we will remember. But you should remember something too – you may be the world's greatest tramp, or the world's greatest villain, but you are still only the mortal..." Natsu stated as he picked up his scarlet dragon-knight bride-style and moved toward the exit. "C'mon, let's get out of here".

"We'll meet again Natsu Dragneel, soon enough…" Siegrein hissed, slightly frustrated by Natsu's comment.

"Do not frown, my love. I know it hurts you, but we have to play by his rules, for now. But sooner or later _**he**_ will do his move, and then – there will be no rules…" Natsu said, carrying his beloved fairy away.

* * *

Fairy Tail. July 12, 13:30.

"I see! The messenger was a frog, so they bounced right back!" Gray stated with a face expression as if he just managed to found a confirmation to the big bang theory.

"As expected of an ice mage. As cold as ice…" Sin shook his bone head as Elfman shivered from Gray's "discovery."

"I can't believe the arrest was just a formality… I wasted my time worrying" Lucy said in annoyance, her head lay on the table. "Arresting one of the members of Fairy Tail's strongest team is so insulting…"

"Strongest team? What are you talking about?" Gray wondered frowning.

"I'm talking about you, Natsu and Erza! You're the three strongest mages in Fairy Tail, right?" Lucy replied fists balled up.

"Huh? What rubbish." Gray smiled, thinking that Lucy played a joke. "Who told you that senseless idiocy?"

Mirajane kept a cheerful smile for only a second before placing her hands onto her face. Tears swelled in her eyes as she started to cry. Gray's eyes were wide from shock and embarrassment as he added nervously, "Oh, it was you, Mira-chan?!"

"What a lamebrain…" Erza shook her head, of course the ears of she-dragon were able to hear the whole conversation. _'However… It's just a Mirajane, after all'_ She noted to herself. Natsu was busy with his notepad so Erza had nothing to do at the moment.

"I have no doubts about Natsu's strength, but I can't say he is the strongest. There are at least two mages stronger than Natsu. Do you remember he told you about "that geezer," who inspired Natsu to join the Fairy Tail? Even now he is stronger than Natsu, and do not forget about master Makarov, his powers is admirable." Sin explained as he sat near Lucy.

"Moreover, our guild has two more S-class male mages, and I appreciate their manliness…" Elfman commented arms still folded. "Fairy Tail is filled with plenty of powerful mages" He held out a thumb to himself. "Like me!"

"I agree about Erza being a strongest female though" Levy commented with a smile.

"Yes, but I'm not ready to completely write off Mirajane yet" Sin nodded "She was very strong too – she was once called a she-devil." Lucy gulped at this statement, she couldn't imagine how sweat Mira managed to get this nickname.

"I just thought Natsu, Erza and Gray would get along perfectly…" Mira whimpered, still having tears falling from her eyes.

Erza yawned "Those guys are so boring…" She pointed at Lucy's company. "They are making me sleepy…"

"It's not they…" Natsu stated as he hid his notepad and gold pen inside his internal pocket. He raised his left arm as blue light engulfed it. It looked as if Natsu wants to cover himself from something.

"Hrm…" Makarov growled slightly as he was sitting on the bar counter.

"Hm? What's wrong master?" Mira asked with smile (though her eyes were still red a bit)

"Nothing… Just getting sleepy…" Makarov mumbled as Mira looked at him questioningly "It's him"

Suddenly all guild members started to feel an irresistible sleepiness.

"Ah" Mirajane yelped starting to get drowsy as her legs felt like wet noodles and her eyes became heavy as she slump her head onto the bar counter, falling asleep.

"This is…" Gray said as Elfman was starting to feel drowsy too.

"Sleepy…" Max fell asleep almost instantly.

One by one, each member felt the feeling of drowsiness and even Erza lay her head on the table as she fell half-asleep. Everyone else either fell to the ground or slump against the tables or poles. The whole guild except for three individuals were asleep as someone came walking in. He wore a dark blue cloak and his arms and legs were mostly covered in bandages. He wore a dark blue bandana with a silver forehead protector. On his back were magic staves which were held by a dark green strap going across his main body. He step through the mess of knocked out members before heading to the request board.

"Mystogan..." Makarov muttered, eyeing at him.

Picking the request he'd like to take, the unknown mage came to the Makarov who was able to resist his sleeping spell. Sin, who is unable to sleep at all, silently looked at the strange mage.

"You took another monster extermination mission?" Natsu asked. Looks like he was able to block the sleep spell using his **Shi no Mahō.**

"And you still prefer to hunt for humans?" Mystogan returned the question as he showed the request to the master. "I'm leaving" He said simply.

"Hold on. Release your sleep magic!" Makarov ordered strictly.

"Of course…" With each silent step he took to depart, he counted ready to reverse the spell he placed on the guild. "Five... Four… Three... Two... One..."

As he left, the sleep spell was lifted and everyone opened their eyes at once. Still a bit drowsy from the spell, most of the guild started to converse with one another.

"Th-this feeling… was it Mystogan?!" Jet asked, hands to his eyes.

"That punk!" Droy spat.

"His **Surīpu Superu** [Sleep Spell] is so powerful…!" Levy added a bit amazed.

"Mistogan?" Lucy asked in confusion, eyes still droopy.

"He's one of the strongest mage candidates in Fairy Tail" Loki explained before realizing that he is stands too close to Lucy, what caused him to jerk away.

"For some reason he hates to be seen, so whenever he comes to pick a job, he puts everyone to sleep." Erza explained not even trying to hide her frustration from this fact. "Only the master can resist his spell, and Natsu found a way to block it, so I assume they are the only two who saw Mystogan's face."

"What? That sounds so fishy…" Lucy was shocked a little.

"Nope, actually neither I nor Sin ever saw his face, I'm not interested in it. I saw his soul and it's brave and good, I have no reasons to break into his privacy" Natsu commented as he turned on his chair to let Erza sat on his lap.

"Yet I want to take a good look at his face…" Erza growled silently, she was irritated by the fact that she is still unable to resist Mystogan's sleep spell.

"So, I can assume then that only the master knows Mystogan's face…" Gray speculated, taking Natsu's words into calculation.

"No… I know it as well" spoke a voice from above them getting Gray's attention and so were the others.

"Laxus!" exclaimed Macao, eyeing the person that was on the second floor.

"You're here?!" Elfman said shocked.

"This is rare." Wakaba agreed.

"He is also one of the strongest mage candidates" Gray added with chin resting on his hand.

Laxus was a very tall and muscular young man with gray/blue eyes. His hair is slicked back, its numerous spiky strands pointing backwards, though some of it falls down on his forehead. He had a distinctive lightning bolt-shaped scar on his right eye and sports dark lines circling his eyes, with each of them possessing a single, prominent eyelash jutting outwards. On his head were spiked headphones and he wore a black coat with grey fur trimmings and a dark yellow shirt.

"Mystogun is really shy. Don't question it too much" Laxus said with an arrogant smirk before noticing Erza sitting on Natsu's lap. "Hey Natsu, I see you softened completely… Damn, I hoped to see your rematch with her… to bad. But I'm always knew that you can't beat even mere Erza"

"What does that mean?!" Erza responded darkly as she tried to jump on her feet but Natsu hugged her tightly, preventing her from movement as he said "Easy, my love. Let the fool speak"

"I mean I am the strongest! I'll never give up Fairy Tail's strongest position to anyone!" Laxus continued hand out. "Not to Erza, not to Mystogun, not to you Natsu and not to _that geezer_"

"Of course you don't" Natsu agreed, surprising the whole guild "Because you're never had this position in the first place. Or I was away for too long and I missed your fight with Gildarts? Because until you will defeat him in battle – you are just a poseur. Oh, and since you are older than me – can I call you an old fart?" Now the whole guild tried to hold their laugh as Laxus's face became a bit red.

"Shut your mouth Natsu!" He exclaimed angrily.

"Or what, Laxus?" Natsu asked calmly.

"Enough!" Makarov shouted, he was tired from this pointless arguing.

"As you wish, master" Natsu turned away from master's grandson.

"One day I'll beat the shit out of him…" Erza growled as her eyes blazed with flame.

"I'm the strongest! None of you can beat me! Ha, most of you can't even go to the second floor!" Laxus shouted before leaving from the second floor's balcony.

* * *

Fairy Tail. July 12, 14:00.

"Do you know what Laxus was talking about earlier?" Lucy asked Mira. "What he meant when he said that most of us can't go to the second floor?"

"It's still a bit too early for you Lucy, but the request board on the second floor has jobs that are far more difficult than the ones on the first floor. They're S-Class missions." Mirajane explained.

"S-Class?!" Lucy repeated. "Ah yes, I remember – Sin mentioned it earlier…"

"They're so dangerous that even the smallest mistake can lead to your death" she continued. "The rewards are that much higher, though!"

"Wow…" Lucy replied in amazement. "But… Natsu managed to proof that completing the simple missions is more profitable…" Lucy became confused a bit.

"Well, yes, but… It's Natsu…" Mira stuttered before continuing an explanation"…anyway, only mages approved by the master can take the S-class jobs. It isn't for the faint of heart. S-Class jobs are all really dangerous and deadly" she smiled before adding, "There are only six currently qualified, including Natsu, Erza and…"

"…and you, Mirajane" Sin finished her phrase as he landed on Mira's shoulder, making blue-eyed girl to smile sadly. "I'm still agreeing with Natsu about your situation Mira, we'll find the way to get you back into the saddle, so there is no need to be sad, however, I want to remind to our blonde about the job that you arranged for her."

"Oh yes, Lucy! You have less than three hours to prepare for the photo session!" Mira exclaimed, freaking Lucy out.

"Yaaaaa! I forgot!" She yelled and flew out from the guildhall like a bullet as Sin made a face-palm. Lucy forgot that Mira recommended her to the Sorcerer weekly as a photo model, the crew wanted to meet her at Magnolia's beach today, at 17:00.

* * *

**Omake: Lucy at the beach**

Magnolia's beach. July 12, 15:00.

"Ahhhh! The beach!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully, with her arms spread wide she enjoyed the sunny day.

"You made it here really quick" Sin decided to join Lucy, he thought that observing her photo session could be quite interesting experience.

'_That's right, I'm at the beach this time! Why, you ask? Of course it's for work. Don't look surprised – I'll be starring in the weekly Sorcerer! Maybe I'll become famous in the world of magic now?'_ Stars shined around Lucy as she imagined herself on the cover of a most popular magic magazine.

"The camera crew is late…" Lucy complained as Sin landed on her shoulder.

"No wonder, you were so hasty that you came to the beach two hours early. There's no way they'd be here already. You're just too eager" Sin said, ignoring the shocked looks of the beach folks that were directed on him.

"By the way – interesting swimsuit you got here" Natsu's voice called out from behind, making Lucy to turn around in shock only to see the whole trio – Gray, Erza and the God slayer – standing there. Gray was in his boxers (at the beach it was quite pertinently) as Natsu and Erza were wearing their common clothes.

"Why are you here!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise before quickly recomposing herself and smiling playfully, touching her cheek by right hand "Aaah, I know. You wanted to see me in my swimsuit huh… Ah, I'm so embarrassed… Stop staring at me!" She cried in false shyness… before noticing that no one actually staring at her.

"Since when logic started to work in Fairy Tail?" Sin asked as Lucy growled in frustration because no one even tried to compliment her swimsuit or her looks.

"Listen up you three! I'll never forgive you if you screw up my photo shoot!" Lucy exclaimed with quite aggressive tone.

Natsu extended his right arm and shot a crimson energy bold into the ground, which exploded, eliciting a sand cloud "Don't yell at us Lucy, calm down" He said calmly as Lucy gulped in fear. "We're not interested in you photo session"

"Easy Natsu, she's just very worried" Erza placed her hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"You're not interested in my photo shoot? Then what did you came here for?" Lucy wondered.

"We came here to catch a boar" Gray informed "Mira is going to cook her famous boar stew, so…"

"There are lot of boars in the mountains…" Lucy shivered a little. "By the way, Erza – you're even wearing your armor at the beach? That doesn't look too charming…" Stellar mage noted.

"Fu fu… Don't underestimate me, Lucy. I can ex-equip to swimsuits, too. Look!" Erza said with a smirk before magic light engulfed her. A second later light faded, revealing Erza in her _iron_ swimsuit "See?" She asked with a smile.

"IRON?!" Lucy yelled in shock.

"I have a steel one, too" Erza smirked. Three seconds later she realized that she just had done as she turned to Natsu, who stood with permanent face-palm. "Natsu, we are still engaged, are we?" She asked gingerly.

Natsu made a deep sight "The fact that you're so quaint is one of the countless reasons why we're became engaged in the first place…" He said as he encased his odd but so lovely girlfriend into tight cuddle.

"By the way, Lucy – you mentioned a photo shoot, but do you have any experience?" Gray inquired.

"Nope" Lucy admitted carelessly.

"You should at least practice posing and making expressions then" Gray commented.

"Why don't you do it here? We'll help you" Erza suggested as she ex-equipped her normal black bikini. Natsu wrapped his hands around her waist, pressing her body to self and causing her to sigh sweetly.

"No way! It's embarrassing!" Lucy yelled, covering her breasts.

"You're gonna be in magazine. You'll never be able to do it if you're shy" Dragon-knight said with her arms crossed.

"Th…then maybe a little bit… Like this?" Lucy asked as she made a slurred stance with weird face expression. She was extremely constrained.

"Hrmmm… Your expression is awkward" Erza said.

"The pose isn't great either" Gray decided.

"You seem like a mannequin who got sciatica" Natsu blurted and got a soft slap on the back of his head from Erza.

"How about this then?" Lucy lay on her stomach, one leg bent at the knee and cute smile on her face.

"Yeah, that's better…" Erza commented as boys nodded in agreement.

Lucy made several different poses, each time better than before. At last Lucy laid on her back as she crossed her arms under her breast to make them pop out more.

"There!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly. For a moment it was possible to think that he tried to say that this pose is the best but… "I see the boar! Ready your spells!"

"All right!" Gray agreed.

"Don't let it get away!" Erza shouted as all three of them rushed toward the boar, jumping over Lucy (and only God knows why this boar came to the beach).

"A girl on a roll! She'll take any pose you want!" Sin was flying around with a wooden sign "100J", acting like a barker "Only 100 jewels for one pose!"

"I WILL NOT!" Lucy yelled angrily as tears of grievance swelled in her eyes, because her so-called nakamas dumped her.

"Gaaah! You're all making fun of me!" Lucy let out a tearful cry "I've had it!" She raised one of her golden keys and shouted "**Open, the door to the water bearer, Akueriasu!**" A mermaid-like spirit emerged from the blue magic seal Lucy's key created. "Here – punish them for me!"

"A girl on the roll, huh" Mermaid just giggled as she noted the sign in Sin's claws.

"Leave me alone!" Lucy yelled indignantly "It's your duty! There! Flush those idiots away!" She pointed at Natsu, Erza and Gray, who were still chasing after the boar.

"Huh?" Lucy wondered as Aquarius suddenly disappeared, without saying the word and Taurus appeared instead.

"Moo-f course! I'll do wha-a-atever you ask me to, Lucy-san!" Bull exclaimed with hearts in his eyes and steam flowing from his nose as he almost poked it into Lucy's chest, causing her to jerk away.

"I did not summon you!" Lucy yelled in shock.

"You won't get away!" Gray shouted at boar as he prepared to use his magic to freeze the beast.

"Cold!" Some folks around trembled from low temperature.

"Today we'll dine on boar's stew cooked by my own recipe! **Enryū no Hōkō!**" [Flame Dragon's Roar] Flow of flame flew toward the boar and exploded throwing boar into the sea, where he was caught and swallowed by orca.

"What the hell! It's ours, get it back!" Natsu yelled angrily "All right, that's it! Today we'll dine on shamoo's sirloin! **Metsujin Ōgi…"** [God Slayer's Secret Art…] Natsu shouted as he extended his arms forward.

"No Natsu, wait! Seabed here is very flat!" Erza tried to stop him but her words fell on deaf ears.

"…**Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!"** [...Blood Star: chaos Dragon Breath] Natsu created a huge missile composed of twisting crimson energy, and hurled it at the sea where orca was. Missile submerged into water and hit some underwater rock, producing an immensely powerful sub-water explosion.

"Damn, I think I missed…" Natsu spitted in annoyance as he turned away from the sea "…okay, we have to find another boar" He started to look around to find one.

"Natsu, look!" Gray shouted, for some reason he was frightened as he pointed behind god slayer.

"What?" Natsu asked as he turned around. "Oh crap, not again!..." – blast from his Chaos Dragon Breath created a huge tidal wave, and now it headed in their direction.

"I can't resist anymoo-re!" perverted stellar spirit shouted as he started to untie Lucy's top, freaking her out.

"Hands off, you pervert!" She screamed, trying to run away from Taurus.

"**Aisu Meiku: ****Sherutā!"** [Ice Make: Shelter] Gray shouted, creating an ice pyramid above himself.

"Why the hell no one told me that this beach has so flat seabed! You're live here for a long time!" Natsu yelled, running away from the tidal wave, which he created by his own hands.

"WHAT?! Natsu, I hope you'll survive this so I could kill you myself!" Erza bellowed, she warned him… Next moment the tidal wave hit the beach, turning it into a mess.

One minute later the magazine's crew arrived at the beach.

"I wonder what Lucy is like…" Cameraman from magazine's crew said.

"Mira-chan recommended her to us, so I'm sure she's cute" Editor answered.

"Oh, is that her?" Cameraman asked as he noted the blonde girl. But then they manage to distinguish the chaos on the ruined beach – topless Lucy were running from the bull, Gray were hiding under ice pyramid, Sin rolling on send laughing and Natsu and Erza, yelling at each other:

"You're damn psycho!"

"Is not it the reason you love me?!"

"Yes!"

"Then why are you yelling at me?!"

"I don't know!"

"No, it's not she…" Editor said, observing the situation.

"Yeah, they probably are doing some shooting for perverted movie… Let's get out of here." Cameraman agreed.

Author's voice: So, Lucy, it's good to be a part of the big family?

* * *

Spell list:

**Shirubā Sufia** – Silver Sphere

**Kuroi Geijutsu** – Black Arts

**Shi no Mahō** – Death Magic

**Nōtōkei** – Brain Freeze

**Shinunoru T****ōr****y****ū****gi** – Death Knight Combat Style

**Ken no Mahō** – Sword Magic

**Shis****ō**** Geijutsu** – Death Frost Art

**Rarabai's** – Lullaby

**Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Heaven's Wheel Armor

**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Flight Armor

**Kureha no Yoroi: Za Naito** – Black Wing Armor: The Knight (Lit. from KanJi – Black Feather)

**Sonikku Kurou** – Sonic Claw

**Kureha: Gessen** – Black Wings: Moon Flash

**Senjin no Sentsui** – War God's Warhammer (War god's version of Zancrow's "Flame God's Scythe")

**Senjin no Yōshihō** – War God's Proton Cannon

**Senjin no Shōkya** – War God's Shock Leg

**Senjin no Ukyogun** – War God's Raven Flock

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: chaos Dragon Breath (This spell is just a slightly modified version of Lina Inverse's signature spell - Dragon Slave)

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Massatsu** – Death Knight Combat Style: Obliterate

**Enryū no Sōkon** – Flame Dragon's Maim

**Enryū no Hōkō** – Flame Dragon's Roar

**Enryū no Nengeki** – Flame Dragon's Blazing Halberd

**Enryū no Yōnen** – Flame Dragon's Radiant Blaze

**Aisu Meiku: Ransu** – Ice Make: Lances

**Aisu Meiku: Ōto Shot Tobou** – Ice Make: Auto Shot Bow

**Aisu Meiku: Aisu Kyanon** – Ice Make: Ice Cannon

**Aisu Meiku: ****Shīrudo** – Ice Make: Shield

**Aisu Meiku: Sōsā** – Ice Make: Saucer

**Aisu Meiku: ****Sherutā** – Ice Make: Shelter

**Noroiwa Utau** – Cursed Song

**Zōkei Madōshi** – Molding Mage

**Zōkei no Mahō** – Molding Magic

**Shinentai** – Thought Projection

**Surīpu Superu** – Sleep Spell

* * *

Well, that's it people. Chapter seven has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW!**_ See you in the next chapter – **Natsu's dairy – even gods could fall in love.**


	8. Natsu's Diary

Hi people! Thanks everyone for your **reviews**, I'm glad to see them. Many thenks.

Here are the answers for your questions.

…

**Toaneo07 Ver2.0: **Yes and no. As far as I understand the "god spells" as you called them were created to declare the parental deity for an artificial god slayer. But Natsu is **Shin** [True] God Slayer – he was raised by real goddess, so he do not need some spell to give a name for his parent god. However, Morrigan will be mentioned in the name of Natsu's ultimate spell by her nickname – Phantom Queen.

**Sable1212: **Yeah, future arcs will be altered more than Eisenwald's arc.

**FanFictionHunter:** Thanks man.

**Guest: **I'll reveal the story about Natsu's arm during Phantom Lord arc or Tower arc.

**NNeko: **I thought about it but in the end I decided that it will be a confusing factor for readers.

**fred872:** Many thanks. Just remember – social interactions are secondary in this story. There will be many of them of course but I want to focus on adventures here. This chapter is exclusion.

…

**Everyone:** Thanks for the reviews people, now let's continue. This chapter is completely original and contains the story of Natsu's maturing. I'm intentionally did not include Erza's thoughts here – there will be other chapters for her memories. This is the mostly social chapter, so even Natsu/Erza fight won't be too detailed. Also I had to move the FT timeline slightly. I'm afraid this chapter did not became as romantic as I wanted but… Oh well, I'll try to compensate it later =)

* * *

**Omake – Let's talk about dragons.**

Erza: "Hey, Mr. Author – why you can't just leave me the Flame Dragon Spells?"

Author: "Because flame do not fit you, my dear. Violent and rough – flame is not for such a graceful and tender girl"

Erza (blushing): "Thanks… but what dragon will fit me then?"

Natsu: "Hey, I got an idea! Make her a War Dragon Slayer! She could feed me with her magic"

Author: "Don't get smart. You should be thankful that I don't make you a Sewers God slayer. Try to imagine yourself drinking a sewers water to replenish your strength."

Natsu (with green face): "Screw you…"

Erza: Burst of laugh.

Author: "Stop laughing or I'll make you a Perfume Dragon Slayer with Ichiya constantly swirling around you…"

Erza: Fainted…

Author: "Now, let's go for the chapter."

* * *

**Chapter VIII – Natsu's diary**

…

Magnolia's outskirts, Natsu Dragneel's bedroom, year X784, July 13, 2:00 AM.

Erza suddenly woke up. Covered by cold sweat and breathing rapidly she perplexedly looked around herself. She was in Natsu's… no, in her own bedroom. Since she and Natsu are no longer need to hide their relationships, they are going to live together. Tomorrow she is going to move from Fairy Hills to this house. Natsu peacefully slept near, his face buried in the pillow. Erza instinctively touched him, as if to check that he is real.

"You had this nightmare again?" God slayer asked through pillow before turning to her.

"Yeah… I'm sorry to wake you up…" Erza answered guiltily. Once again in her dream she saw the Tower of Heaven, the cultists and heard Jellar's voice as her eleven year old self trembled in fear and tried to cover herself from her tormentors.

"It's I am the one who should be sorry for not making you exhausted enough and letting you to see any dream at all…" Natsu said as he sat in bed and hugged his beloved. Without any clothes her porcelain skin shined beautifully under moonlight, which comes through open window…

"Pervert…" Erza said, but little smile appeared on her face. Natsu released her from hug, hopped off from the bed and started to dress up. "What are you doing?" Titania asked confused.

"Is not it obvious? You won't be able to sleep for some time and I do not want to sleep without you, so I'm going to the backyard for some training. Come on, join me" Natsu explained, putting on his coat.

Erza smiled thankfully. She did not even tried to convince him to resume his sleep or to say that he does not have to do it, she already learned that it won't work. It was not her first nightmare that waked her up when she was in his bed and he always woke up with her and always was able to find some deal for them to distract her from wandering further into her memories, from thoughts about that damn tower. "Almost three months since last nightmare… Damn you Siegrain…" Erza was sure that it's his appearance provoked her past to pop up in her dream again. She ex-equipped her normal Heart Kreuz Armor and took Natsu's hand. "Lead the way…" she smiled.

They walked outside and Erza looked to the night sky. "Stars are especially beautiful tonight… look, they are lightening up our way to the new, joint life" Natsu pointed up, causing his beloved to giggle.

"Who would have thought that you are such a hopeless romantic…" Erza said, tightening her grip on his palm. _'And I'm so happy that you showed to me this part of your personality…'_ Titania has no intentions to even try to imagine how her life could be right now without Natsu, her body and her soul belongs to him.

"Hey, my mother is one of the highest ranked deities of the dark pantheon, so little alternating of my personality should not be an issue…" God slayer smiled. "However, you should be a very, very special girl to see this part of me. It took a lot of time for both of us to see each other from proper side…" Natsu added, causing Erza to smile too. "Do you remember? How we met for the first time?"

Titania chuckled "As if I could forget. You made quite an appearance back then…"

* * *

**Flashback**

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …at last I made it to the town of Magnolia. I decided to stop at one of the town's hotel for today, tomorrow's morning I'm going to speak with the Fairy Tail's master. I think this town will fit me just fine. It's not small enough to be under feudal rule, but also not big enough to cause me a constant headache from too much people around. Oh, I'm really hope that this journey was worth it…_

…

Year 781, May 21th, about 9 AM, Fairy Tail Guildhall.

"At least Mirajane and Erza calmed down for a while, I'm so tired from their constant brawls…" Dark-blue eyed young man said to a tall white haired fellow.

"Yeah, I can't deny Mira-nee's manliness (hey, she is a girl!), but her fights with Erza became too aggressive…" Elfman agreed as Gray shook his head.

"Gray, where is your clothes?" Asked miniature blue-haired girl – Levy McGarden.

"Gaaah! Why's this continue to happening!" Gray screamed in panic.

"Hey! Where's my strawberry cake?!" Angry girl voice called out, gaining unrequited attention from at least half of the guild. "Don't tell me that this whore stole it again!" Scarlet haired girl shouted in frustration.

"How did you called me?!" Another girl's voice shouted as Mirajane jumped down from the second floor. Immediately two girls slammed their foreheads against each other, spitting different insults toward the opponent.

"Not again…" Cana muttered as she understood that another brawl between two S-class girls is inevitable. Mirajane passed the S-class exam about half year ago, at the age of sixteen, while Erza passed the exam about fourteen months ago at the age of fifteen.

Suddenly guild doors opened and someone appeared on the guild's doorstep. A salmon-haired boy, about fifteen years old, made a step inside the guild. He was dressed in white pants, black boots and black/gold one-sleeved coat. His left hand was encased into leather glove. But most remarkable detail were his eyes – left one burned by cold blue flame as right one was gloving by crimson light.

The boy started to look around, ignoring the fact that he became a center of attention, even Erza and Mira stopped their arguing and now were staring at him.

"So, this is Fairy Tail… Not too impressive, don't you think?" Boy asked as the last addition to his weird image appeared and landed on his shoulder. Glowing skeletal little dragon shook his head.

"Let's not judge the book by its cover" Sin suggested.

"Okay, let's find the master…" Natsu agreed.

"Hey, who the hell are you!?" Gray came closer to the strange visitor.

"Is that matter?" Natsu asked calmly as he made a step forward. "I do not asking why you are in the underpants, though it smacks of exhibitionism. This is the guild of a perverts?" Natsu asked, causing several guild members to laugh.

'_Hmm, this guy reacted just like Erza…'_ Macao thought, remembering Erza's reaction at Gray's habit to strip to his underwear.

"What?! Listen, you… I do not let you mock me and our guild! **Aisu Meiku: Sōdo!**" [Ice Make: Sword] Gray created sword made of ice and pointed it at Natsu. "Apologize to me!" Gray demanded, but God slayer just smiled.

"No" Natsu said and made another step forward but Gray blocked his way by his ice sword.

"So, you are an ice mage…" Natsu sighed "…but there are different kinds of ice, you know?" God slayer asked as he grabbed Gray's sword by his left hand, which started to glow by blue light as salmon-haired boy said **"Zetsurei"** [Absolute Zero] The air around him become so cold that even Gray shivered from the low temperature.

"What the?! The Ice mage are freezes?!" Elfman asked in surprise as Gray's sword started to become dark-blue. It became so cold that ice mage had to remove his hand from sword's hilt. Several seconds later the ice sword crumbled to pieces.

"He… he just froze the ice sword to the point that it crumbled?!" Levy asked in shock as sword's smithers fell on the floor. Natsu made several steps forward before his way was blocked by Mirajane.

"In your place, I would not turn up your nose too high" Platinum blonde said boldly.

"In your place, I would shave my armpits before putting on revealing clothes" Natsu answered emotionlessly. Mirajane's face instantly became red as whole guild became silent (and Erza smiled a little). She-devil growled angrily and without saying anything tried to punch Natsu in the face. Everyone was able to feel a slight shockwave from her fist, but Natsu blocked her attack by his elbow with ease. Mira made another attack but it was blocked too.

"Pathetic attempt…" Lil dragon commented from Natsu's shoulder as the whole guild was shocked by the fact that Natsu matched Mirajane's power and speed.

"Stop it!" Erza demanded, addressing to Mirajane.

"Now, when we all learned that none of you are much for me, can I speak with your master?" Natsu asked, ignoring angry she-devil. "Or anyone else wants to try me? I have a sword, too" God slayer addressed to Erza as he noticed the sword on her waist.

"No, thanks" Erza retorted, keeping a stiff upper lip, she had no intentions to do… well, anything with this strange person. "Master is not here for a moment, you can wait for him there" she waved toward the hall, meaning that Natsu can choose any table.

Natsu nodded slightly and moved toward the farthest table. "Red haired girl is sexy…" Natsu noted to Sin. "…but blonde is not bad too, despite she's stupid. You know, a threesome with those two is not so bad idea…"

"Who do you think you are?!" Mira shouted at Erza, irritated by the fact that Erza let this weird person to pass, acting like she's in charge here.

"Stay down. If he came to speak with the master than it means that it has nothing to do with you" Erza stated, turning away. Looks like she has no intentions to continue her brawl with Mira, for now.

…

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …as I suspected, the guild is filled with short-minded people. Most of them are ordinary persons and mediocre mages. However… there is something in that scarlet-haired girl with a sword. I can't say what is it exactly, but she is not like the others…__ her soul… are special… oh well, it's not of my business…_

…

…_well, joining the guild was a simple task, short talk with the guild master and mentioning Gildarts' name was enough. Of course, he noticed my arm, so I had to explain my situation to him, I told him a short version though. He met my story with understanding. His magic powers are immense, either. I think I'm going to respect him, too, so now there is at least two mages in the guild who earned my esteem…_

…

…_I think I'm in luck. Scarlet-haired girl – Erza (somehow I managed to remember her name pretty quick) – appeared to be a __**Ken no Mahō**__ [__Sword Magic__] user. I saw her training yesterday, she is quite good with her sword spells. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to deconstruct her magic and adopt her spells for my own sword technique. I just need to take a closer look…_

…

_**(Time skip)**_

…

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …Two months had passed since I joined the Fairy Tail. What could I say about my new "colleagues"? Well, most of them are noisy, stupid and weak. Excluding master Makarov (at last I managed to remember his name) and Gildarts (who visited the guild about three weeks ago, but left for another journey), only four people here could provide some challenge to my strength. However – and this is the most weird thing – I managed to find a friend inside the guild. Her kindness and friendliness seems attractive, even for me. Strange, she is a mere human being and rather middling mage, yet her presence somehow makes me feel myself… less lonely. What's wrong with me? Since when I need a friend? Since then loneliness started to bother me? This guild has a strange influence on me... I should be more careful._

* * *

Year 781, July 23th, about 11 AM, Fairy Tail Guildhall.

"Natsu, did you hear?! Today master is going to announce the candidates for the S-class trial!" Blue-eyed girl with short white hair said excitedly as she sat near God slayer. "I'm sure you will be one of them!"

"Hi, Lisanna" Natsu answered "Yeah, I know – I had a talk with the master about it yesterday. But, no, I won't be one of them." Lisanna's eyes widened as she heard that.

"But why?! Surely you have more than enough power to become an S-class mage!" Lisanna exclaimed, she was very surprised by the news.

"It's because I declined the trial" Natsu answered simply. "Yesterday master asked me how I feel about becoming a senior mage and I answered that it is not worth my time. I had calculated everything – effective income from S-class missions is lower than from common missions. Also S-class mages should perform some guild duties, and I do not need them." Natsu explained his reasons. Moreover, he knew that S-class missions are dangerous, and risk his hide without a real cause was not in Natsu's style.

"But Natsu…" Lisanna tried to argue but her sister's voice interrupted her.

"Lisanna! How many times I have to tell you that you should stay away from this psycho!" Mirajane exclaimed angrily as she came close to Natsu's table.

"Why are you so wound up?" Natsu asked casually "Do you afraid that your sister's breasts might become bigger than yours when she grows up?"

Both girl's faces become a bit red, Lisanna's from embarrassment and Mirajane's from rage as Natsu gave her an insolent smirk.

"Natsu!" Another girl's voice called out for him. "What the meaning of this?! Master just told me that you do not want to participate in S-class exam!" Erza came close and slammed her fists on the table.

"It means what I do not need the S-class rank" Natsu answered passionlessly. "This exam will cause many trouble for the participants, and only thing I'll get is more troubles and duties. I don't need any of it"

"You can't decline the exam! It's a great honor to become the S-class mage!" Erza exclaimed indignantly.

"You can take my place. Go forth, pass the exam one more time, may be master will make you an SS-class mage" Natsu stood up and looked right into her eyes. "I'm not the one who you trying to convince about that useless exam, right? You know as well as I am that S-rank will not make you feel better…" God slayer stated and headed to the guild door, leaving speechless Erza and confused Stratus sisters behind.

…

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …As expected, that strange guy named Mystogan passed the S-class exam. He's weird… he always casts the sleep spell at whole guild when he comes to the guildhall, so no one could see him. Too bad for him – I was able to deconstruct his magic. I can't reproduce his sleep spell, but I found a way to completely block it. Most ironic of all - I do not care about his face even a bit…_

**End of Flashback**

…

Natsu Dragneel's house's backyard, year X784, July 13, 2:20 AM.

"So, how was it?" Erza asked. She just performed a series of Flame Dragon Slayer's spells while her beloved God slayer mindfully watched over her performance. Now she sat on Natsu's lap as he calculated something inside his mind. To be honest, Erza could not understand what exactly Natsu is trying to learn from her techniques.

"Um? Ah, it's good…" Natsu answered indistinctly, trying to hide his concern.

"Natsu" Erza said with a raised eyebrow "What is going on?"

"No, nothing… it's just… ah well, forget about it…" He tried to act calmly, but he actually _was_ concerned.

Erza smiled, she knew that the last thing he wants is to make her worry about something else right after she had a nightmare about Tower of Heaven. "Natsu, please. If it somehow related to my magic I must know about it" She asked softly but firmly as she looked into his eyes.

Natsu sighed, he just could not hide anything from her, not when these beautiful brown orbs were so close, shining under the moonlight. In addition, he could not deny the logic of her request "Okay… I just have a strange feeling about your magic… During our fight with Zeref's beast I noticed that your flame spells made you exhausted… well, much more than they should. And now, when you performed the series of spell – you again spent much more magic energy than you should…" Natsu explained his worries.

"Well, I'm just a starter, you know. You should not expect me to perform all spells perfectly since just three months after I started to learn this magic" Erza tried to reason him.

Natsu smiled at her statement.

"Why are you smiling?" She wondered, smiling back.

"Well, you just admitted that you are not perfect. Who could imagine that I'll become the only person for whom you'll show your human side?" Natsu asked as he gently kissed her earlap. It was her very sensitive spot so she moaned from pleasure.

"Umm… yes… at the beginning our relationships quickly became… strained, to said the least… do you remember?... Ahh…" She gasped when Natsu bit her neck. "You was not the sweetest person in the world back then… Umm…" She melted from his gentle touches.

"No matter how hard I'll try to forget it – her tombstone forever will be a reminder about my pride, immaturity and irresponsibility…" Natsu sighed deeply as Erza embraced her beloved tightly to comfort him.

* * *

**Flashback**

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …How annoying could be a girl? Yesterday Erza noticed me watching her training, and she just can't leave me alone since then, despite I already invented a dozen of good excuses… I think I have to buy a telescope if I'm going to continue to watch over her training sessions so I could steal more of her spells…_

_By the way, it seems I can tolerate Mirajane's presence for more than five minutes. Also she became less annoying. I'm pretty sure she is acting less aggressive toward me mostly for Lisanna's sake, as well as I am, but it works…_

_Anyway, yesterday I bought a plot of land outside the city. I'm going to build my new house there. Today I'm going to meet with the contractor…_

…

Year 781, October 10th, about 11 AM, Fairy Tail Guildhall.

"I'm really glad to see that you and Mira-nee began to get along better with each other" Lisanna said happily.

"Yeah, she really became less frustrating, however, as if to compensate it – Erza became much more annoying…" Natsu complained, causing his 14th years old friend to giggle. "What's so funny?" He wondered.

"Natsu, your mind is very weird, you know it? You are brilliant, yet you are unable to see the obvious things… Mira-nee is Erza's old rival. And now when your relationships with Mirajane became less strained Erza thinks that Mira-nee is trying to become your girlfriend…" Natsu chocked a little "…it is not truth… I think… but you know Erza – she is very impressionable" Lisanna explained with smile. "So now she is a bit angry at you because she thought that you took the side of her rival"

Natsu stood with a face-palm gesture for about two minutes before speaking "Okay, two people can play this game. If she thinks that it is so easy to get under my skin – I'll proof that she is wrong…"

"Oh Natsu… you are incorrigible…" Lisanna smiled.

…

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …it seems I really can get along with Lisanna's sister, too. Surprisingly, but she seems to became more mature. Unlike Erza, by the way – looks like the fact that I'm not afraid of her drives her nuts. How many hang-ups can have one girl?…_

…

Year 781, November 14th, about 6 PM, Magnolia's park.

"Hey Natsu!" Lisanna's voice called out for the God slayer who sat at one of the park benches.

"What's up?" He asked, waving his hand as the youngest of Stratus siblings came closer to him.

"What's you doing here?" Lisanna asked.

"I'm waiting for the contractor, my house is almost finished and he is going to show me the progress." Natsu said. It was not truth, though. In point of fact Natsu is intending to spy at Erza once again. She recently bought a new sword – **Benisakura**[Crimson Sakura] – and now she is close to master a new spell – **Yōtō** [Demon Blade], and Natsu wanted to be there so he could copy it for himself.

"Hey, Lisanna! We got a job to do!" Elfman's voice called out as he and Mirajane appeared from the park's alley.

"But didn't we just came back?" Lisanna asked in surprise.

"It's an S-class, too! We'll back Sis up on it." Elfman explained with enthusiastic smirk.

"What kind of job is it?" Natsu wondered, mostly to keep balls rolling.

"Emergency Suppression. We're heading toward the king of monsters, "The Beast" Mira answered. "Natsu, you wanna come with us? It might be an interesting experience" She-devil winked to him.

"You can't even imagine the experience I already have…" Natsu said as his gloved hand started to glow. "Sorry Mira, but I'm busy right now. Besides – _he_ do not want me to be with you," Natsu pointed at Elfman.

"He's right, I'm against that. A man should protect his family on his own." White haired sturdy confirmed.

"But Natsu…" Lisanna tried to convince him but God slayer interrupted her.

"Lisanna, you are the family, go. I'll be fine. When you get back, I'll show you my new house." Natsu said with a wink. _'This mission is just a waste of time. This "Beast" has nothing to offer apart from his worthless hide… Splitting the reward with three other people… It's just does not worth my time.'_

"Okay, see you soon, Natsu" Lisanna waved her goodbye.

"All right…" Mira said, she seems disappointed a little.

"Take care" God slayer answered.

* * *

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …I have to admit – Mira becoming quite a chick. Interesting, will it look too bad if I'll use my friendship with Lisanna to make a closer relationships with Mirajane? Ah, who cares how it will look… She is almost seventeen and I wouldn't mind to have her as my girlfriend…_

…

…_My house finally has been completed. I'm pretty satisfied (unlike Sin) with the result. Tomorrow Lisanna should be back from her mission and I'm going to show her my new house. I think I can use some of her advises about furniture…_

…

…_Today's morning Mirajane came to my new house… She was in deep shock and completely broken… Her eyes were blank, as well as her soul. It seems that she was barely conscious of where she was and what she was doing. She informed me that yesterday her mission went terribly wrong. Elfman was severely wounded, he's still in the hospital, in town where their mission took place, I can't remember the name. Also she told me that Lisanna died on the mission._

_It seems I'm the first person who was informed about the incident… I can't get it – why? There is a whole guild full of people who cared about her much more than I ever did, yet she came to me… I was forced to lead her to the guild myself, I was afraid that she might go astray in the town in her current condition…_

…

…_It is weird, but… first time in my life I'm actually does not sure about what to do now… Damn, Lisanna… she was a mere human… I'm higher than this! Higher than these pathetic human's emotions like "regret" and "grief"! I should not feel anything, but… why then my hand is shaking so much?..._

* * *

Year 781, November 17th, 11:07 AM, Chaldean Cathedral's graveyard.

Elfman was released from the hospital yesterday, so he was able to participate in burial ceremony. Lisanna's body was never found, so an empty coffin was put into the grave. Natsu decided to not to come to the ceremony itself, he was not interested in watching at empty wooden box and dozens of mournful people around…

…

Under hard rain, lonely figure stood near the tomb. Despite his protests, Elfman was forced to go to the guild's sickbay and take some rest, but Mirajane just could not leave the grave of her sister, not yet. She turned around as she heard heavy squelching steps behind, only to see Natsu coming closer.

She looked at him with blank sight, obviously she still was in deep shock. "Sorry for that I did not come to the ceremony… but I would've been one too many there…" Natsu said, looking at the tombstone. Suddenly Heavenly Blossom glinted in Natsu's hand as he plunged his sword into the ground right before Lisanna's grave and fell on his knees.

"Eh?" Mira gulped from unexpectedness as Natsu looked into Mira's eyes before speaking.

"**Mia clementia denar esto…** **Mia**** elevatum est stulta**" He said, of course Mira did not understood anything.

"This is a divine language, it means _'I beg you for forgiveness… I was proud and foolish'_ well, something like this…" Sin explained as he landed on the ground near Natsu.

"Forgive you… for what?..." Mira asked by blank voice.

"For that I let my laziness, my greed and, primarily, my pride to deprive you of your sister…" Natsu said mournfully.

"Oh Natsu!... I… I was… It's not… not your… It was my entire fault!" Mira cried as she too fell on her knees and buried her face in Natsu's chest and started to sob. Natsu wrapped his right hand around Mira's head and pressed her to himself. They stood like this about half an hour, until poor girl was able to get a hold on herself a little. Her coat became dripping wet long ago, and November's wind made her to shiver from cold. At last Natsu stood up, helping Mirajane to stand too.

"C'mon, we should leave. The last thing what she need now is ours mournful faces. Let's leave her in peace" He stated turning around. Mirajane obediently followed him, looks like she did not cared where exactly he leads her.

…

_**Natsu's diary:**__…I brought Mirajene to the hotel room where I used to live until my new house was finished, since I still have to buy a furniture. She fell asleep almost instantly, it seems she did not slept for almost four days…_

…_I barely can feel Mira's magic power. She told me that she lost her powers, but I know that this is impossible. As far as I understand – her own mind locked her powers, because she thought that her powers were the reason for Lisanna's death in the first place. Unlocking them again is possible, but it will be an extremely hard task, especially because she does not wants her powers back…_

…_weird, but this incident made me to learn another thing… Mirajane is here, in my room. She is obviously beautiful as well as she extremely vulnerable right now… I'm sure I could kiss her several times and she wouldn't resist. She could become mine… But… I did not kiss her. And not because my honor or something does not let me to do it… I just do not want to kiss her. What's wrong with me?! One of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen is here and I do not want to kiss her?!..._

* * *

Year 781, November 18th, 9:15 AM, Fairy Tail guildhall.

Whole guild was silent, still mourns for Lisanna's death. Very kind, cheerful and so young – her death was a terrible blow to everyone. But the most weird thing – to Natsu's great surprise, confusion and shame – all of the guild members paid their respects to him too, because he lost his best, and, most likely, only real friend in the guild.

'_I can't get it. I always treated these people like a trash and definitely I'm not deserved their kindness… Yet they all tried to cheer me up…'_ Natsu was extremely confused by other's behavior.

…

"Poor Mirajane…" Max mumbled "I can't even imagine how hard it could be to her… It was not her fault…"

Natsu raised his head. "Max, please – quit being a fool…" God slayer said passionlessly.

"Hey, why are you saying this?!" Sand mage asked resentfully.

"Because it _was_ HER fault" Natsu answered, and of course, he instantly became the center of attention. "She is an S-class mage, she was in charge for this mission and she was not strong enough to defeat the enemy. Lie will not change anything and will not help anyone. Three people are sharing the guilty for Lisanna's death. Mirajane and Elfman, because they were not strong enough and one more mage because he was an asshole, too proud to help them with the mission. Try to guess who it is…" Natsu's words made a whole guild silent again as all the members were staring at him. "Denying the truth won't do any good, especially to Mira and Elfman…" Natsu continued his speech as he stood up "…But we all have to learn this lesson and do everything we can to not let this story to repeat itself. I'm definitely learned my lesson" He finished his phrase and headed toward the stairs to the second floor.

"Hey! Hold it right there! You can't go to the second floor!" Erza exclaimed as she dashed to Natsu to stop him because he ignored her words. She did not notice that crimson energy engulfed Natsu's right hand and blue energy engulfed his left. When she came close Natsu turned abruptly and slammed both of his fists into her armored chest with full force. Taken by surprise, Erza was smashed into the opposite wall as she made a hole in it, flying out from the guild building. She was knocked out. Whole guild gasped at this sight as Natsu continued his way to the second floor.

"And you definitely did not learn anything…" Natsu stated as he climbed to the second floor and stopped before the S-class request board. He noticed one of the requests and came closer to examine it. _'Vanquish the mysterious cult'_ – "Yes, this will do just fine" He said to himself. Natsu did not take the request, he just remembered the directions to the place. "Sin, c'mon, we're leaving" Natsu called for his familiar as he walked down the stairs.

"Natsu, wait! You can't take the S-class mission without permission!" Gray tried to remind him about guild rules.

"I did not take anything" Natsu answered, showing his empty hands. "And I don't need anyone's permission to massacre the gang of some criminals and take everything they have for myself. I need more power…" God slayer was already at the door frame. "Oh, and when she will return – tell her I'm sorry…" He added and vanished from sight.

"Damned insane psychopath!" Wakaba exclaimed as soon as Natsu disappeared.

"Where is he?!" furious girl's voice demanded the answer as Erza appeared in the door frame. Her armor was shattered and she stood holding by her chest – it seems Natsu broke one or two of her ribs.

"What's going on here?" Makarov appeared on the second floor, looks like he slept in his office but yells from the main hall woke him up.

"Master! It's Natsu – he went to the S-class mission!" Gray informed the master.

"What?!" Makarov's eyes widened as he quickly looked at the S-class board. "What are you saying – all of the requests are on their places"

"Well, he did not take the request, but this maniac went to the mission's place, I think he wants to rob someone…" Ice mage clarified his previous statement.

"Master, we have to bring him back!" Erza exclaimed angrily.

"No" Makarov answered simply. "If he did not took the request then he did not broke the rules. That means we have no reasons to tell him what to do or what not to do…"

"But master…" Erza tried to argue but master cut her off mid-sentence.

"Let him be Erza." Makarov said before examining the girl closer "It's his doings?"

"Yes…" Scarlet haired girl answered grudgingly.

"Go see the doctor. When he'll return I'll make him to compensate the expenses for your treatment and repairs of your armor" Master said before returning into his office, leaving Erza and other guild members at a loss.

* * *

Year 781, November 19th, 3:40 AM, somewhere in Fiore, not too far from Magnolia.

Cave network, lightened by torches, was filled by wounded, frozen and beaten up bodies. Several of them were deprived of some limbs – Natsu's interrogation methods were not too civil. "I can't believe that one man destroyed our entire operation…" One of the defeated cultists croaked.

Natsu was not interested in cult's intentions or ideas or anything. Right now he and Sin were inside of the so called "sacred chamber". Natsu was worn out after a violent battle, but quite satisfied with himself. They were searching for any magic items or books that Natsu could use to learn some new techniques. Of course – his god slayer's magic could be improved only by intensive training, but he thought that illegal cult might own some **Kuroi Geijutsu **[Black Arts]secrets (he has nothing to lose anyway – he's already a black arts user).

"Hey Sin – take a look at this!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly. He just smashed some altar and found a secret treasure beneath it. "If this is what I think it is – we're extremely lucky!..."

…

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …After searching out the hidden temple I found two extremely valuable items! If I'm correct – this is the dragon lacrima – the crystal that contains a part of an ancient dragon's soul, which could be used to increase person's magic powers and grant him the access to the __**Metsuryū Mahō**__ [__Dragon Slayer Magic__]! Also there is an ancient grimoire which contains the teaching for __**En no**__**Metsuryū Mahō **__[__Flame Dragon Slayer Magic__], which could be used to learn this magic, even without lacrima. Together they could be used to create sterling__ Dragon Slayer!_

…

…_damn, it seems I got two problems. First one – I can't use the __dragon lacrima. After doing some research and consulting with the specialists I managed to learn that dragon lacrima will not work on me, since it was created to turn __humans__ into dragon slayers or to increase the power of existed dragon slayer. Since I'm not a human and not a dragon slayer – __implanting the lacrima into my body will be just a waste of very valuable item. Book, on the other hand, was partially useful – I found two spells that I certainly can adopt for my own __**Metsujin Mahō**__ [__God Slayer Magic__]. I'll keep the items for a while, maybe I'll find some use for them later._

… _the second problem is Erza. She's still extremely angry at me and now she's acting as is I'm does not exist at all. However, sometimes I have a feeling that she is spying on me… damn girl, I'm becoming paranoid because of her._

…_moreover, I think Mirajane too feel herself slightly offended by me… well, because I do not tried to comfort her by kiss… her feelings are very messy right now… I said that my honor do not let me kiss so vulnerable girl… I did not found the courage inside me to tell that I just do not wanted her lips…_

_**End of Flashback**_

* * *

Natsu Dragneel's house's backyard, year X784, July 13, 3:10 AM.

Natsu sat at bench, once again examining the grimoire that Erza was using to learn her dragon slayer spell. She sat near him with her hands wrapped around Natsu's right arm and her head resting on his shoulder. Natsu was so consumed by his research that he did not even noticed as her head became heavy and breathing became steady – she fell asleep.

"Damn, I can't get it. I'm pretty sure we have done everything right… yet your spells consume your magic ineffectively… And you chocked when you consumed fire… Dragon slayers should not choke consuming their element…" Natsu muttering to himself. "Can you perform several more spells, Erza?... Erza?" At last Natsu noticed that his beautiful scarlet fairy is sleeping. He smiled – she looks so cute and peaceful as she smiled in her dream – now she sees anything but nightmare. Carefully, to not wake her up, Natsu picked her up bride-style, brought back to their bedroom, and placed her on their bad.

"Damn armor, how I should remove it without waking you up, honey?" Natsu asked quietly. But then he smiled before speaking "It reminds me… how hard it was to remove your armor for the first time… do you remember, my love?"

* * *

**Flashback**

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …I had spoken to the master, told him that I had revised my position about S-class mage rank. He told me that he was expecting it. Next exam will be in eight months. Shouldn't be difficult…_

_Mira became a guild's waitress since she can't earn the money as a mage. To be honest – I can't imagine anything more humiliating, but it seems she's actually enjoying the peacefulness of the guild hall. Yet I remained convinced – her powers could be unlocked, we just have to find a proper trigger…_

…

_**(Time skip)**_

…

…_Mira had changed drastically. If I would not know for sure – I would never believe that she once was called a she-devil. She became nice, gentle and very caring girl. Erza, on the other hand, did not changed at all, and I'm already sick-tired of her…_

…_yesterday I passed the S-class exam. It was hard but not too hard – it's good that fate is one of my mother's domains. Now I have the right to watch over guild members to ensure their safety. Oh, and now I can openly play on Erza's nerves… nope, actually I did it before, many times. Nothing had changed…_

…

_**(Time skip)**_

…

…_I'm just hate this girl. I'm really are. I don't know why but… ah, Natsu, just stop it. Deceiving your own diary is the most stupid thing you can do. I like this red-haired girl!_

_She is obviously beautiful, but… this is not that important. My ability to distinguish souls of living beings has been greatly improved during last two years, and now… I just can't divert my eyes from her. There are no words to properly describe her beauty… and her fragility. It's no wonder that she tried to hide her very tender soul behind the suit of armor… but instead she only locked her pain inside herself…_

_It's obviously she had a very difficult childhood, yet she found strength to live and even smile sometimes… She's a bit gawky but it only makes her more charming… Strong and independent – she is exactly what I need, but… from which side I should approach her? During past two years I made everything I could to make her unable to__ stomach me…_

…_Moreover, for some reason she's acting especially aggressive toward me for several last months. It might be an issue – despite I like her I do not let anyone to hurt my warrior's pride, I'm the son of the supreme war goddess after all. _

* * *

Year 783, October 13th, about 8 AM, Fairy Tail guildhall.

Today Erza was especially annoying – the baker, who usually make her favorite strawberry cakes got sick, so she was depraved of this dainty for three days now. Every guild member tried to act as quietly and inconspicuous as possible, yet she constantly pester to someone.

"Macao, Wakaba – stop chatting so loud, your mumbling is annoying"

"Cana, get rid of these empty barrels"

"Max, why the hell there is a sand all over the floor?"

Then her eyes locked up with Natsu's. "If you think I'm going to take this kind of talk from you, you're really all wet" God slayer said even before Erza opened her mouth. Her cheeks became slightly pink from growing anger. "Why are you so wound up?" Natsu asked as he stood up and moved toward the request board, asking his familiar to follow him by gesture. Sin landed on Natsu's shoulder as the Ravager started to examine the requests. Natsu wanted to keep himself as far away from Erza as possible until the supply of her cakes will be resumed… but his attempt came too late.

"Naturally, Natsu, you are the limit..." Erza growled angrily.

"What do you want from me?" Natsu asked, turning around. His annoyance started to heat up too.

"I want you to stop being an asshole" She answered, pointing at Natsu.

"Me?! Look around you! All these people are almost dead to the world because you just can't shut up!" Natsu made a step toward her as Sin relocated himself to the counter – he decided to watch from the safe distance.

"Speak for yourself" She parried. "You constantly walks around with that insolent smile – 'I'm so cool' 'I have a nice sword' 'I was raised by the goddess' – you think you are better than us, Natsu?"

"You dare imagine what I think? And leave my mother out of this…" Natsu answered by threatening tone.

"Oh I will. I'm actually understands her – she left you because you screw her down too…" She was cut off mid-sentence.

"**Senjin ****no Dogō!"** [War God's Howl] Natsu's eyes blazed with crimson light as released the flow of crimson energy almost point-blank. Erza was smashed into the guild hall wall as Natsu's spell made a hole in it. However, it was not the Erza from two years ago – despite she got a direct hit she was just barely scratched. Natsu followed her through the hole, out from the building and tried to land another blow **"****Senjin ****no ****Saiken****!"** [War God's Crushing Fust] Erza dodged the attack by doing a back flip. "You mindless bitch! I'll teach you the good manners!"

"**Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [Heaven's wheel armor] Erza shouted, equipping her four-winged armor. "Come on then! It's time to settle this! **Toriniti Sōdo!"** [Trinity Sword] She swung her sword, slashing Natsu in triangle formation.

"**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: ****Fukushū Kōsō!"** [Vengeful Frost] Natsu swung his own divine blade, making almost the same move as Erza. _'Just try it! I'll beat you with your own spells!'_ The evil smile beamed on Natsu's face.

All guild members got out from the guild to see the match.

Two spells clashed, effectively neutralizing each other. _'What the? His spell… it was exactly like my own!'_ Erza thought in surprise, she actually never saw Natsu using the sword magic.

"Oh, don't be so surprised – there are so many things you do not know about me…" Natsu mocked her as he saw Erza's confuse. "Now come, let me see your soul!"

"**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito!** [Flight armor] Let's see how you'll be able to much my speed!" Erza shouted as magic seal appeared, ex-equipping another armor. Extremely revealing, this armor featured very few armored parts, it was more like a fancy attire bearing reminiscence to a cheetah.** "Sonikku Kurou!"** [Sonic Claw] She dashed towards Natsu at high speed.

Natsu slightly gulped at this sight – not because he was worried by her speed but because this armor revealed her perfect body. 'Damn, she is magnificent…' Natsu thought, yet he managed to get a hold on himself **"Sentō Chūkaku!" **[Combat Core] Natsu shouted as his body was cloaked in an aura of crimson light. Natsu increased his own speed too, not to the point to match Erza's speed but enough to let him avoid or block most of her attacks.

…

Fight continues in form of hand-to-hand combat for at least 40 minutes, yet no one were able to take the upper hand, but at least ten townhouses, one restaurant and part of the Magnolia's marketplace were severely damaged or destroyed.

…

'_Damn, that's impossible! It seems he have a countermove for almost all of my spells! Oh…' _Erza thought desperately. She tried several dozens of different moves, yet Natsu was able to counter or block all of them. She managed to land several successful attacks but got several blows in exchange, too. _'All right, it seems I have to use everything I have… Master will be pissed off, but I can't lose to him now!'_

'_She is as stubborn as an entire flock of mules!'_ Natsu thought as he got a short break from Erza's attack. _'Oh, maybe this is why I like her, but… I can't let her go unpunished, not after that she said. It's time to get serious…'_

"**Kureha no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [Black Wing Armor] Scarlet magic seal appeared, ex-equipping her black-wing armor. She dashed toward Natsu, with her sword ready to strike. **"Kureha: Gessen!"** [Moon Flash] She swung her sword, sanding powerful shockwave toward Natsu.

"**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Byōhen Rimyō!"** [Morbid Dawn] Once again Natsu made the same move as a knight-mage, his sword produced a deathfrost shockwave of the same pattern as Erza's. Two spells clashed, producing very concentrated magic vortex, which soon collapsed and created powerful blast wave. At least three more buildings were damaged, as townsfolk runs away in panic.

"It's useless Erza – just give it up. I promise I'll give you a gentle punishment!" Natsu shouted, mocking his opponent.

"Fuck you!" Erza yelled angrily, she was confused and enraged because Natsu not only somehow managed to use the same spells as she did, he also took a defensive position, provoking her to attack and she could not understand – why?

"Hey! Mind what you're saying or I'll wash your mouth with soap!" Natsu shouted as he dashed forward. "I'm tired of this game Erza, maybe it's time to show me your best armor?! **Senjin ****no Bakusō****!**" [War God's Explosive Spear] Natsu hurled a crimson energy spear toward Erza, making her to jump away. She barely avoided the attack, her magic and physical powers were on the wane.

'_Okay, I have no choice – he left me no more options…'_ She thought before equipping her strongest (to date) armor. **"****Rengoku no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [Purgatory Armor] Erza equipped the black armor with many spiked features and quite menacing appearance as her hair spikes outward to match the design of the armor. "Behold! This is Purgatory Armor – no one has seen this armor and lived to tell of it!" She shouted, swinging around by large black mace that has the same spike-like design as the armor itself.

"Which means you bought it just yesterday?" Natsu asked with smile before dashing toward Erza as blue energy engulfed his sword. **"****Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Massatsu!"** [Obliterate] Natsu shouted before launching his unstoppable attack. Erza runs toward him too, with her mace ready to strike. Heavenly blossom clashed with Erza's mace and shattered it to pieces, leaving Erza weaponless and shocked.

"H… How? You fiend, how much magic you have?!" Knight-mage exclaimed in frustration – she used her magic relatively frugally, yet she is almost at her limit; but he – he's not only deflected all of her spells but also hurled his own god slayer spells hit and miss, yet he is not seems too exhausted.

Natsu sighted disappointedly as he shook his head. "You still did not learn anything, did you? The point here is not about me or my magic… it's about your armor. You're smart girl, why then you can't understand that this eggshell of yours is not protecting but binds you? You cannot hide from fear inside the suit of armor! Until the chick will break the shell he will never fly. I'm going to finish this battle… do you want to fly, Erza?" Natsu asked as he finished his speech and raised his sword to prepare for final attack.

Erza listened to his speech with mixed expression of confusion, anger and pain. Natsu got under her skin. _'Is he capable of reading minds?! How the hell he knows so much about my emotions?! But… he is right, is not he? He has no armor at all, yet I feel myself much more vulnerable than him…'_ Erza thought with her eyes closed before magic light covered her body. As light faded Erza appeared in red/yellow textile pants, bondages around her chest and only one sword equipped – **Benisakura**. "You right – I was afraid…" She said simply. "But I'm afraid no longer. And now I'm going to discards all of my defenses for last attack to defeat you!" She shouted, charging toward Natsu.

Natsu was ready, he charged against her too.

"**Yōtō Benisakura!" ** [Demon Blade Crimson Sakura]

"**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Mōi no Sōtai!"** [Fury of the Frost Emperor]

Their swords clashed, as Natsu and Erza both tried to overpower each other. Natsu breathe heavily, Erza's power was very high. "Not bad, now I can feel your real power, but… there is one more lesson you should learn before you'll get a chance to defeat me…" Natsu smiled as cracks started to cover Erza's blade "…you should stop buying the cheap swords!" As he finished her phrase Erza's sword crumbled to pieces as she fell on her knees, defeated. Natsu opened his mouth to say something but suddenly broad light beam smashed both of them into the nearest rock.

"ENOUGH!" Makarov's angry voice shook the whole street and made all spectators to run away in panic.

* * *

_**Natsu's diary: **__...master got us. He knocked us both out and dragged back to his office, where he yelled at us for two hours straight. Worst part of it – we actually __**was**__ guilty… Poor Erza, it seems she took it closer to the heart than I did… I think I understand her feelings – she always tried to be a model mage and now… I admitted that it was I who started the fight but it made little difference – we both were punished. Since now – if I'll try to use any spell against Erza I have to pay 200 000 jewels to the guild's purse. And if Erza will try to use any spell against me she had to make a topless photo for the journal… Also we have to compensate the damage from our own funds…_

…_Oh Erza… what shall I do with you… ah, screw it. I'm going to tell her about my feelings now. Come what may… may be she'll laugh at me… but… I do not know why, but... I have a good feeling about it… In the end – fate is one of my mother's domains…_

…

Natsu found Erza near the channel, at the same spot that she used to hide from the others when she just came to the guild (according to Gray). First he made some preparations, and after it he approached the lonely girl.

"What do you want?" She asked passionlessly as she felt his presence. "You still want to punish me for that I said about your mother?"

"No" Natsu smirked "You're already punished more than enough… we both are…" Natsu added as he came closer. "I just want to ask something"

"Go ahead…" She said, turning to Natsu, her left eye was red from tears, but right one was normal. It surprised Natsu slightly but he decided to postpone unimportant questions for later time.

"Since Lisanna's death I tried to change, to become a better man. I really think that I succeeded – most people became my real friends. But you… for some reason you were acting more and more aggressive toward me each day. I just want to know – why? Don't say it's because of my jokes toward you – I know it is not true. What's wrong, Erza?"

Erza smiled sadly "You really do not understand? You, brilliant minded and so perceptive, almighty Natsu Dragneel can't understand such a simple thing?..." She sighed deeply. "I'm acting like this because I like you…" She said honestly, watching right into Natsu's eyes. "When I watch you sitting near the counter, when you and Mirajane are smiling to each other… I just can't bear it…" She turned away from him. "Go on, laugh. I have nothing to say to you anymore…"

"Me and Mirajane…" Natsu sighed deeply, he was the master of hiding his emotions. "…You know, after Lisanna died I was the first person she came to. Damn, I even let her sleep in my bed…" Erza shivered a little as she heard that "…but we never even kissed. Yes, we became very good friends, but that's all." Natsu couldn't see it but the small ray of hope flashed inside Erza's eyes. "Come here, please – I'll show you the reason for it…" Natsu asked her to follow him to the little mound.

Erza had nothing to lose, so she just followed him. Then they both climbed up to the mound Natsu pointed to the flower field below. Erza looked that way and her eyes widened from surprise. Part of the field was frozen, and frozen flowers were formed into words: "I LIKE YOU, ERZA SCARLET" Obviously – Natsu prepared it beforehand.

Erza tried to say something but huge amount of contradictory thought were swarming inside her head right now. For her it was absolutely unexpected. Suddenly Natsu took her hand and started to pool somewhere. "Come on, let's go" He said.

"W-wait, wh-where are we going?" She stuttered.

"I'm inviting you for a date" He answered simply.

* * *

Actually, it was not a date – more likely a simple walk, but they both enjoyed it. They chatted about some guild events and their habits – nothing serious, as it should be at the first date.

"Okay, it's already late, see you tomorrow" Erza said smiling, she was happy. May be not too much – she knew too little about this man to make some plans… but now she has hope. She already turned around and started to walk away but Natsu called out for her.

"Erza, one more thing before you go…" He said as he started to unzip the glove on his left arm. Two seconds later Natsu removed it, revealing fleshless bones, covered by blue flame.

Erza gasped in shock at this sight "Wh… what is this?!" She made several steps toward Natsu to take a better look at his arm.

"This is the reward for my carelessness…" Natsu answered "…I'll tell you this story one day. But now I'm showing it to you for other reason. I do not know what exactly happened to you in the past, but that's obvious for me that it is extremely hard for you to trust someone. And I just want you to know – I was hurt, too. I know how you feel… And my remark about an eggshell… Young girl sacrificed her life to break the eggshell of my pride. I do not want someone else's death for breaking your eggshell of fear… especially your death." He said, putting his glove back and turning around.

"Natsu, wait" She exclaimed making several steps toward him. Next second their lips met for their first kiss. It was short – about five seconds long, but it caused a hurricane of emotions for both Natsu and Erza. "Thank you…" she whispered silently.

* * *

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …after our second date we decided to hide our relationships from the others, we need some time to better understand our feelings and feel each other. Basically I have to continue to play on her nerves when we both are in the guildhall. I can do it…_

_Erza feel herself very awkward, it will be a hard task to gain her complete trust, but I'm patient and she definitely worth it…_

…

"Don't you think we are moving too fast?" Erza asked, trying to catch her breath after two minutes long kiss. "Kisses with tongue at the third date…"

"I think we're going just fine" Natsu smiled, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"Then what we will do at our fifth date?" Erza wondered.

"I can give you an idea" Natsu winked to her "Try to imagine it: In the hotel room, lightened by three candles, you lie on the bed, in your underwear. Your eyes covered by soft silk scarf… The blade's edge sliding across your body, hurting you a bit and leaving a slight red trace on your skin. You try to move your hand, but you can't because your hands are tied to the bed… Blade's edge touched your bra and sliced its stripe… …Erza, are you okay? You're drooling…" Natsu asked with pretty evil smile as Erza's face become red and she breathed heavily – that was the exact reaction he wanted to get. He already knew about her overactive imagination…

* * *

_**Natsu's diary:**__ …Damn, I can't wait to get to the bed with her. Quite shy girl in her regular life I'm sure she'll be a tornado in the bed as soon as I turn her from a girl into a woman…_

…

_**(Time skip)**_

…

…_today she told me that she love me. Damn, once again she went ahead of me with her feelings confession. _

…

_**(Time skip)**_

…

_...after three months of dating Erza finally opened her heart to me and told me the story of her life. I knew her past is dark, but I couldn't imagine how exactly dark it was. In exchange I told her my own story, and the details about the forbidden magic I unwillingly got. Also I told her that I'm a magic deconstructor and I spied on her for two years and stole many of her spell to adopt them for my combat style. She chased me for a half an hour with intention to strangle, but somehow we ended up in bed, doing what man and woman should do when they are in the same bed…_

…_we both had sworn to keep our secrets. Too bad – I can't help her right now, but sooner or later __**he**__ will make his move. Jellar Fernandes – know this – you are sentenced to death…_

…_yesterday we walked around the town and I noticed her sight toward the bridal store. She dreary looked at the wedding Dresses… I think it's time to order a wedding ring, if she again will went ahead of me and propose to me… I don't want even think of it…_

…

_**(Time skip)**_

…

_She said "yes"!… and again… and again… and again… in total she said "yes" 487 times. I just adore this woman for her emotionality... Despite I placed a "seal of the god" on her two weeks ago, which is actually much more than a wedding – she is happier than ever that we'll have a ceremony, guests, wedding gifts, etc… She is a normal girl after all._

…_at last I found a good use for dragon slayer's artifacts. I'll make Erza a dragon slayer! She resisted for some time but in the end gave up. I want her to become stronger to ensure her safety. I love her…_

…

**End of Flashback**

* * *

Natsu Dragneel's house, year X784, July 13, 9:00 AM.

Erza opened her eyes and yawned sweetly. She just saw a dream, a good one – she was flying on dragon's back – the dragon that Natsu gave her so she could fulfill her childhood's dream of flying in the sky… She looked around and saw Natsu sitting near her on the bed. Also she noticed that whole bed and at least half of the room's floor is littered with some papers, manuscripts, scrolls, etc… Natsu still holds the dragon grimoire.

"Natsu? What is this… you still with this book? You… you did not sleep for whole night?" Erza asked, throwing the papers from her bed.

"It's already morning?" Natsu vacantly looked into the window "Then yes, I'm did not sleep for whole night…" He answered, continuing to watch into the book.

Erza sighed deeply, this was one of Natsu's idiosyncrasies which make him the man who she loves, but sometimes it was irritating. When he becomes so obsessed with some idea he won't leave it until he solves the task.

"What are these papers?" Erza asked, she was still in bed, without any clothes, and she was slightly offended because Natsu still did not gave her a "good morning, my love" kiss.

"This is all the documents that I took from those cultists along with the dragon lacrima and this book. I want to know what's wrong with your spells." Natsu answered, still looking into the book.

Erza sighed again as she understood that it's useless to try to talk to him now. She hopped off from the bed and looked around to find her underwear. "Okay, I'll leave it to you then. I'm going to dormitory – other girls agreed to help me move my stuff to our house from my dorm room, but it's better for me to be there and watch over them, especially Cana – this drunkard could try to attach the wrong shoulder pads to the wrong chest plate…" Erza chuckled a little as she took her panties and started to put them on.

Suddenly Natsu slammed the book shut and stood up, making Erza to look at him in surprise. God slayer jumped toward her, grabbed her by armpits and lifted her up as if she weights nothing. Erza swung her arms from unexpectedness and accidently threw her panties into the open window. "Erza! You are brilliant!" He shouted as his bride looked at him with saucer-wide eyes while her still naked body hung limply in Natsu's arms.

"Damn! I'm an idiot… we had done everything wrong! Now I got it!" Natsu suddenly became excited, he lowered his beloved on the floor and kissed her very passionately. Erza first was taken aback but then responded to his kiss, she opened her mouth and entangled her tongue with his. When he released her lips Erza was breathless but satisfied.

"Okay, this will counts as a morning kiss…" She smiled. "Okay, now I have to dress up…" But she was cut off mid-sentence as Natsu roughly threw her on the bed and sat over her body, pressing her to the mattress.

"You'll be late a bit…" Natsu said with lustful voice.

"But Natsu, I told the others…" Once again he does not let her to finish her phrase.

"You're not going anywhere, I want you, now!" He said unbendingly as his grip on her wrists became painful.

"Okay…" Erza understood that resistance is useless as lust started to fill her too. "But… ahh… at least tell me… umm… what you found…" she started to moan from pleasing pain.

"I found that you performed all off the spell right and your dragon slayer lacrima is perfect…" Natsu looked at grimoire "…but this is the wrong book."

* * *

Spell List:

**Aisu Meiku: Sōdo **– Ice Make: Sword

**Zetsurei**– Absolute Zero

**Ken no Mahō **– Sword Magic

**Metsuryū Mahō **– Dragon Slayer Magic

**Metsujin Mahō **– God Slayer Magic

**Senjin no Dogō **– War God's Howl

**Senjin no Saiken **– War God's Crushing Fust

**Tenrin no Yoroi: Za Naito **– Heaven's wheel armor

**Toriniti Sōdo **– Trinity Sword

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Fukushū Kōsō **– Death Knight Combat Style: Vengeful Frost

**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito **– Flight armor

**Sonikku Kurou **– Sonic Claw

**Sentō Chūkaku **– Combat Core

**Kureha no Yoroi: Za Naito **– Black Wing Armor

**Kureha: Gessen **– Moon Flash

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Byōhen Rimyō **– Death Knight Combat Style: Morbid Dawn

**Senjin no Bakusō **– War God's Explosive Spear

**Rengoku no Yoroi: Za Naito **– Purgatory Armor

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Massatsu **– Death Knight Combat Style: Obliterate

**Yōtō Benisakura **– Demon Blade Crimson Sakura

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Mōi no Sōtai **– Death Knight Combat Style: Fury of the Frost Emperor

* * *

Well, that's it people. Chapter eight has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW!**_ See you in the next chapter – ******To the Cursed Island.**


	9. To the Cursed Island

Hi again people! Thanks everyone for your **reviews**, I'm glad to see them. Many thanks.

Here are the answers for your questions.

* * *

**Toaneo07 Ver2.0: **Many thanks, I'll try to keep up =)

**FanFictionHunter:** Thanks. Yeah, this is one of the reasons why I like NaZa – this pair like meant for kinky stuff =)

**Silent Reader 6100:** Yeah, I know that my English is not perfect yet, but I found a beta reader, chapters 1- 5 were already updated, many thanks goes to **Soul-out-Fairy**

**Divebomb Crow:** Thanks. Natsu's left arm is fleshless from elbow joint to palm.

**Excessive Recon:** Many thanks, I promise to keep up =)

**HelL4DAluCarD:** You got it – here is the new chapter =)

**Mira-san:** Many thanks again =)

**Guest:** Here you go =)

* * *

**Everyone:** Thanks for the reviews people, now let's continue. This chapter is shorter than others and was published before the schedule because it is canon-like and I do not want to mix it with the next one. Sorry for that, I promise to compensate it in the Chapter 10 – it will be about Erza's magic and dragon, so I can guarantee a lot of action and originality. It will be published at the next Friday, as usual. I need these two extra days to polish the next chapter =)

* * *

**Chapter IX – To the Cursed Island.**

...

Natsu and Erza were walking hand in hand toward "Fairy Hills" dormitory. They just had a three hours long marathon of love, so time now was about midday. Dreamy smile played on Erza's face as her thoughts were still soaring in their bedroom. Natsu, on the other hand, was completely focused, sorting through the information that he managed to acquire from the cult's documents. Thanks to Erza's little 'hint' he understood that dragon lacrima that was implanted into his bride's body and the grimoire that contains the teaching of **En no Metsuryū Mahō** [Flame Dragon Slayer Magic] have nothing to do with one another. The lacrima really contains a part of the ancient dragon soul, but this is not the flame dragon. This magic is somehow related to the fire, but not directly.

Then there is a question – what to do with lacrima. If the rules of **Metsuryū Mahō** [Dragon Slayer Magic] are the same as the rules of **Metsujin Mahō** [God Slayer Magic], then he really has a problem. The rules of **Metsu Mahō** [Slayer Magic] are strict – if you do not know the exact properties of your parent being – you can't use its magic. As far as Natsu could understand – now they have three options:

**First** - Erza can use her lacrima to enhance her magic container only, and use her flame spells directly, without trying to invoke spells through lacrima to increase their powers. Spells will be less powerful but they will consume normal amount of magic.

**Second** - Leave the things as they are – let Erza use her flame spell with amplification through lacrima. They will consume a lot of magic powers but will be as powerful as they should.

**Third** - Find the right grimoire or at least some description of a dragon (or his/her magic element), whose lacrima was implanted into Erza's body so she could use all of her dragon might with full power and efficiency.

Needless to say that such a perfectionist as Natsu did not even thought about two first options. He wanted his scarlet dragon-fairy to shine beautifully on the field of battle (yeah – exactly like this – he's a bit of poet)…

"Ouch!" Natsu's thoughts were interrupted when Erza bit his ear. "Hey! What was that for?" He asked resentfully, her bite was quite painful thanks to her massive canine teeth.

"For not kissing me for almost half an hour" She said boldly as Natsu forced her to turn around and landed a harsh slap on her butt, gaining a moan from his perverted bride.

"Nasty girl…" God slayer said before he made her to face him and merged his lips with hers in very passionate kiss as she wrapped her hands around his neck. "Inter alia, while you are daydreaming here, I'm trying to find a solution for a problem with your dragon slayer magic." Natsu noted as he released her lips.

"Oh, c'mon Natsu, it's just an obsession. Just leave it for a while and talk to me. This solution of yours won't make any good if I'll die from boredom" She smiled, looking into Natsu's eyes. Looks like Erza completely forgot about her nightmare and now she was in quite playful mood.

Natsu sighed – may be Erza is very exotic but she is still a girl, and silence was not too enjoyable for her, at least not when she is alone with her beloved, so now he must forget about his obsession for some time. Looks like his inner struggle reflected on his face because Erza embraced him tightly and buried her face into his chest "Oh Natsu… I love you, love you so much…" She whispered tenderly before releasing her fiancé. "Okay, c'mon, we have to hurry, we're more than two hours late, the other girls is waiting." Scarlet-haired girl said as she grabbed his left arm and started to pull him toward Fairy Hills.

"By the way – how many girls agreed to help you with transportation?" Natsu asked, trying to distract himself from thoughts about magic.

"All of them!" Erza informed with joy "They said that they want to thank me for my job as dorm chief during last six years, they even asked Lucy and Mira to help me… Damn, I was so touched then they told me about it that I even thought about delaying my move for a week, but they convinced me that I should be with my beloved. They were right of course, but… what's wrong Natsu?" She asked, noticing that he is very tense.

"Oh… well its… damn, your butt looking so seductive… It's hard to restrain myself…" Natsu muttered.

"Pervert…" She said as she shook her head and moved forward, smiling playfully.

"You are adorable…" Natsu said as he caught up with her and took her hand, he was adored by her childish spontaneity and naivety. In fact, the thing that Natsu just said was a pure lie, actually he made a great effort to not fell on the ground from a burst of laugh. He perfectly understands that actually girls just want to rid of the 'walking disciplinary committee' as fast as possible. No doubts – tonight will be a huge party in the "Fairy Hills." Of course – girls likes Erza as their nakama and they will do anything to help her if she'll be in need, but living with her under the same roof every day is a whole different thing… Evil smile beamed at Natsu's face _'Lying to my bride… bad, bad girls… you'll be punished…'_

* * *

Town of Magnolia, Lucy's house, Year X784, July 13, 5:30 PM.

Moving the Erza's stuff from the dorm to her new place took more than five hours, despite all the girls and even several male mages were involved. As soon as Lucy returned she immediately took the bath to relax a little, she was tired from moving stuff, yet she wanted to participate in the dorm girl's party tonight.

"Hey Lucy, how's it going?" Sin's voice called out as a little bone dragon flew inside her house through open window. He heard the flowing water and made his way into Lucy's bathroom.

"Hey, it's my bathroom!" Lucy yelled at little creature as soon as he flew into bathroom while she cover her breasts from him.

"Lucy, do you really think you should be shy in my presence?" Sin asked ironically.

Blonde thought for a moment before lowering her hands… "Well… I don't think so…" There is very unlikely that this weird creature could be interested in human girl's bodies "But still – this is my home! You can't just break into someone's house!" She said exasperatedly as she closed the water and sat into hot bath.

"Relax blonde" Sin waved her off. "I just wanted to talk" He added as he sat on the bath's edge.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"You" Sin answered, making Lucy to look at him in surprise. "You're acting a bit strange since that Eisenvald incident, and I want to know what's wrong" Sin explained his intentions. "Today you too were quiet and even did not complain about heavy stuff… Do you still concern about other dark guilds?"

Lucy was quiet for a several seconds before she spoke out "No… it's not it… I'm still thinking about the things that master told to me… to us… about living strong life… And about the fight when Natsu, Erza and Gray destroyed the Zeref's demon…"

"Go on…" Sin asked her to continue.

"Well… I want to be like them, Sin! I want to become strong too. I want to be able to protect others with my magic…" She said, lowering her head. "You think this is impossible for me?"

"Don't say foolish things Lucy, Natsu invited you to the guild because he saw your potential. This is the matter of willpower and determination only" Sin's voice became very serious. "If you want to become like them – I can tell you how to do it. But first you should decide – is it really what you want or not."

"Please Sin, tell me – I want to hear it at least" Lucy asked.

"Okay. First – you have to believe in your powers. Second – you should intensify your training. And no – I don't mean that you should train eight hours a week instead of six. You have to devote your entire self to magic. Instead of going for some shopping you should go for training. Instead of going for a walk you should go for training. Take your novel, burn it and go for training instead of writing it." Sin clarified the conditions for becoming strong.

Lucy's eyes widened as she heard that as Sin added "This is how they live Lucy, Natsu and Erza are training each day. They both have a reasons and unwavering determination to become stronger. If you want to become like them – you have to live like they do. And the best way of training is to do missions Lucy. If you really want to become strong – I can help you. I can ask Natsu to take you for a few more missions so you can adapt to this lifestyle quicker"

* * *

Town of Magnolia, Fairy Tail guildhall, Year X784, July 13, 7:30 PM.

Natsu and Erza were sitting at one of the tables, talking. Erza just returned from their house after she finished arranging her stuff. During this time Natsu managed to find a possible lead to the information about Erza's dragon lacrima.

"That damn cultists were pretty good at hiding their traces, however, I found one place which was mentioned in their documents several times – the so called "Moon Temple", located on the island named "Galuna" Natsu informed his fiancé. Suddenly Sin, who was sitting nearby, soared into the air and flew to Mirajane. He told her something and both of them went to the second floor. But Natsu and Erza ignored it.

"I assume you want to check this place?" Erza guessed.

"Of course, it may be nothing but it's our only lead for now, besides…" Natsu stated as he lifted his beloved by armpits and make her sat on his lap "…does not it sounds romantic? Moon island with the Moon temple on it…"

"No Natsu, it does not" Sin suddenly interrupted them, making both Natsu and Erza to look at him in surprise – for Erza's taste it sounded quite romantic. "Here, take a look at this…" Lil dragon dropped a request scroll into Natsu's hands. Natsu caught in and unwrapped.

"HELP US! REMOVE THE DEMONIC COURSE!" Were stated in the request, the promised reward was 7 000 000 jewels.

"Hmm… Looks like we are in luck…" Natsu murmured "We can kill two rabbits by one shot – we can search for the grimoire and earn some money…"

"Are you sure about this? Removing curses is not our specialty…" Erza hesitated a bit. Of course she knew that some curse won't stop Natsu, but… if they went to the island and won't find anything it will be their own problem. But if they'll take a request and fail the S-class mission – whole guild will be ashamed…

"I'm wondering – could it be some kind of remnants of the cult which I wiped out two years ago to acquire the dragon lacrima? Damn, I was sure I got every one of them… Anyway, it worth to try – in the worst case we'll just take the whole island asunder: no island – no curse" Natsu stated carelessly and got a slap on the back of his head.

Erza stood up as do Natsu and they went to Mirajane to register their mission. "Mira, please mark that we're taking this request" Natsu said, showing the request list to barmaid.

"The Galuna island? Sorry Natsu but this request already has been taken" She answered with a bit of cunning smile.

"What? Taken? By who?" Wondered very surprised Erza.

"By me" She answered simply as Sin winked to her. "I gave it to Sin so he could warn you about the curse, but request was already taken – look" She showed the registration book to Natsu – there was a string _'Galuna island curse removal (S) – Mirajane Stratus'_ The date of posting was about two minutes ago.

"What is the meaning of this?" She-dragon growled.

"What are you talking about?" Former she-devil asked with an innocent smile as she touched her cheek by finger. "I'm still an S-class mage and I have the same rights of taking the S-class missions as you two"

"What do you want?" Natsu asked from blue-eyed extortionist with narrowed eyes. It's obvious she can't do this mission so she just wanted something in exchange.

"I want you to take Lucy along for this mission, and if you'll manage to succeed you'll give her this part of mission reward" Mira pointed at additional string under the numbers which Natsu did not noticed at first – the actual reward was 7000000 jewels and Golden Zodiac Key. "But you shouldn't tell Lucy that I asked you to take her along, don't make her feel herself an unwanted burden!"

"Why do you want us to take Lucy along? Do you two sleep together or something?" Erza spitted this phrase – actually she had nothing against Lucy, in the contrary – they already became friends – she-dragon was just very angry at Mirajane.

Mira just ignored Erza's insult and continued to watch at Natsu. "And?" God slayer asked indignantly – he knew there is more than one condition.

"And, because Lucy may feel herself uncomfortable with just two of you, I asked Gray to go with you, he agreed to accompany at your mission for only 2 000 000 jewels share!" Mira said excitedly. Natsu looked at Gray – by his face was clear that another mission with Natsu and Erza is the last thing he wanted to do, no matter how much money is at stake. Looks like Mira got some sensitive information on ice mage and used it to black-mail him… "It's up to you to decide Natsu – five millions or nothing" Mira gave him an insolent smirk.

Natsu and Erza looked into each other eyes for several seconds. "Fine" Natsu said, making Mira to smile happily as she made a new record in registration book "And you… little gloving asshole… you'll pay for this" Natsu growled at Sin, he now understood that skeletal creature overheard his talk with Erza and warned Mira about Galuna island mission.

"Can I punch her now?" Erza asked when request was officially transferred from Mirajane to Natsu.

"No need, I have a better idea…" Natsu said with narrowed eyes before whispering something into Erza's ear, making her to grin evilly, that in turn made Mirajane a bit nervous.

"I don't like a looks of this…" Sin addressed to a barmaid… "Watch your back Mira"

"Sorry man…" Natsu said as he passed beside Gray.

"I'll get over it…" Gray answered with the voice of doomed person.

"Did you two at least warn Lucy that she's going with us for an S-class mission?" Erza asked from Sin.

"Well… I promised to help her get stronger but… yeah, I'll better tell her the details…" Lil dragon stuttered.

"Sit here! I'll tell her myself" Erza said crossly as she came closer to Natsu and kissed his cheek.

"Okay, go talk to Lucy, I'll meet you at her home after I'll clean up things here." They wanted to go on a date later in the evening. "Just… try not to scare her to much by this "cursed island" thing…"

As soon as Erza left the guildhall Natsu took out the spare keys of his house and placed them before Cana, making her to look at him questioningly. "Take this keys Cana, you'll need them. Tomorrow we're leaving to the Galuna island. While we will be on mission you and other girls should clean my house, trim the lawn and shrubs, and paint the fence." Natsu said it loudly so other girls could hear him too.

"And why on earth we should do it?" Cana asked as she, Levy, Biska and Laki looked at him with widened eyes.

"Because if you don't I'm going to tell Erza that tonight will be a party in the women's hostel to celebrate her leave" Natsu answered with evil and insolent smile. Girls became pale and even several male guild members gulped at Natsu's 'heartlessness' – for Mirajane's delinquency he punished every girl.

"You… how dare you!" Laki exclaimed resentfully.

"Oh, quite a nerve you got to yell at me…" Natsu made a several steps toward violet-haired girl, making her to tremble. Then he turned around and came closer to the counter "Oh, Mira, and thank you for telling me about the party. I'm glad that my poor Erza still have at least one friend in this guild"

Everybody immediately turned to Mira as Natsu came closer to her and whispered "I think your party invitation was just canceled… you're probably my closest friend here, but I don't let anyone to use me or my bride" His eyes erupted with crimson light as he moved toward the guildhall doors and left the guild building.

"Mira!" Cana exclaimed loudly as soon as Natsu left the guildhall. "Why did you told him? _What_ did you told him?! Why he's thinking that we just… betrayed Erza?!"

"We never were intending to celebrate her leave!" Levy added "We just wanted to enjoy a bit of freedom!"

"No! I… I don't… I did not say anything!" Mira tried to justify herself somehow but girls paid little attention to it. "Many thanks to you Sin, that really was a brilliant idea!" Mira growled angrily at little boney creature. Natsu managed to twist facts so much that now it looked like Mira was the only honest girl in the whole guild.

"Hey, I did not force you to do it! I just suggested the plan to help Lucy!" Sin waved off the acquisitions.

"Oh…" Levy sighed deeply, it seems tomorrow she has to spend several hours cleaning Natsu's house, a large one…

"Don't be so sad Levy, we can help you" Jet offered his help as he and Droy came closer to the bookworm.

"No guys, sorry but I can't accept your help for this case… It's my own fault… Now I understood that the very idea of this party was quite vile." Levy said looking into the floor as other girls sighed deeply.

'_Natsu really knows how to get under people's skin…'_ Mirajane thought with narrowed eyes as she looked at the other girls who now feel themselves guilty.

"Yeah…" Biska agreed "Erza done so much for every dormitory resident and now it really looks like we're going to celebrate her leave…"

"And I've always said - this so-called "female friendship" of yours just does not exist…" Laxus's voice came from the second floor. "Poor dear Erza…" He added with insolent smirk.

"Laxus?! You have nothing to do with this at all, why add fuel to the fire?!" Mirajane walked up to him at the second floor, her arms to her hips and not in the nice girl attitude.

"I just wanted to note that these "nakama bonds" of Fairy Tail mages does not looks so tight after all" Laxus smiled with his eyes closed.

Mirajane's eyes were a complete change to her usual look. A dark tone now resonated the once blue eyes are as dark, menacing scowl was upon her face. _'How dare you speak about that, you bastard? You never cared about anyone in this guild!'_

"Oh?" Laxus realized eyeing the look of her face. "You haven't given me that look in a while."

"Just leave him Mira, it's not worth it" Gray said as he stood up. "Oh, I think I'll better go and prepare myself for the mission…"

* * *

Town of Magnolia, Lucy's house, Year X784, July 13, 8:00 PM.

"The…the cursed island?!" Lucy asked in shock as Erza explained the mission details to her.

"Yep, an S-class mission. Sin mentioned that you want to become stronger, this mission should be a great experience for you. You had read many books, so you might remember something useful to help us lift the curse." Actually, Erza really thought so now – in the end Lucy was the only one between their team who had the information about Lullaby.

"Well, yeah… but curse…" Lucy muttered to herself.

"What's wrong, Lucy? You do not need a golden Zodiac key?" Erza asked with a bit of cunning smile.

Once the words 'Zodiac key' passed Erza's lips, it made Lucy's ears burning red with interest.

"Come again?" she asked.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention – the additional reward is one of the twelve Zodiac keys." Erza winked to stellar mage. "But if you don't want to go I guess we'll just sell the key after we'll complete the mission..." Erza sighed but suddenly Lucy got close to her face with her eyes filled with horror. The words "sell the key" really made Lucy terrified.

"I'll go! You can't sell the key like it is some merchandise! Let me get ready!" She exclaimed.

'_And again, Natsu was right about her weak spot…' _Erza smiled, watching Lucy readying her stuff. "We'll take the earliest train tomorrow Lucy. Get Ready" Dragon-knight said and moved toward the exit. She picked up Natsu's scent from outside. It's time to go for a date…

…

Town of Harujion, city port, Year X784, July 13, 13:40 AM.

"Wow! I haven't been here for a while… This brings back memories!" said an amazed Lucy as they stood in town. Rest of her team was right behind her with smiles too. "This is the town where I met with you two!" She looks back at Natsu and Sin with a cheerful smile.

"Haven't been here for a while?..." Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow. "Lucy, it was less than two weeks ago"

"Your speaking like an old lady…" Sin noted from Natsu's shoulder.

"All right, first we have to find a transport that'll take us to this Galuna island" Lucy suggested, looking into the sea.

"Oh… transportation? Again?" Erza quickly became gloomy. She just spent seven horrible hours in the train and now she have to board the ship for only God knows how much time.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I think I can make this trip easier for you… may be even enjoyable. You only have to bear it until we'll leave the port." Natsu kissed her forehead.

"Really? What is it?" Erza wondered as she quickly perked up. She learned to completely trust Natsu, so if he says that he found a way to ease her motion sickness – he really found a way.

"I'll show you as soon as we leave the port, but know this – I'm expecting a compensation for my brilliance…" Natsu winked to his bride as the rest of their team looked at god slayer suspiciously. Erza looked at him with narrowed eyes too – she got some feeling that he is going to ask for something very kinky…

* * *

"Galuna island? Get outta here, I'm not going anywhere near that place!"

"Forget it. We don't even want to hear that name."

And other answers of this kind – this is what team Natsu received in response on their request to bring them to Galuna island. Disappointed and curious to why no sailors or fishermen would wanna go, they spoke to another group for answers.

"Sailors around here won't even talk about that island." Spoke a man in a green shirt in a boat.

"That place is cursed." Added the second man wearing a orange shirt, a white cloth tied on his head, and carrying a wooden create in his hands, "Going there'd be nothing but bad karma."

They spoke to another sailor, man with tan skin, a black beard, a blue hat and a green cloak and with a wide collar. "Dunno what your story is, but you won't find any sailor who'll go there. Even pirates are avoiding that place." He said to Lucy while Natsu and the others were sitting on wooden crates near her.

"You can't be serious…" Lucy said desperately.

"Yeah, this is started to become annoying…" Natsu agreed. "Looks like all this "sailors" are the bunch of superstitious cowards…"

"May be we should just capture some pirate ship?" Erza suggested. Natsu looked at her scratching his chin – actually he was about to agree with her idea.

"Oh, wait!" Lucy suddenly exclaimed as she got another idea "Gray, can you use your magic to create a boat for us?"

"Well, I can but these waters are warm – it'll melt…" Ice mage answered.

"But Natsu can use his **Shisō no Mahō** [Death Frost Magic] to keep the ice boat intact" Sin supported Lucy's idea.

"Guys, guys – I'm appreciate your enthusiasm but transport is not our problem. I can just freeze the sea surface to make a road to the island…" Dark blue magic seal appeared at Natsu's left fist as he froze a little part of sea surface. "Our problem is that none of us knows where this cursed island is – we do not know where to go or sail to…"

The sailor in green cloak, who was watching the group noticed the magic seal and ice floe what was formed by Natsu's will. "Magic?" He asked in surprise "You people are mages?!"

The five looked at the sailor who added, "Are you going to break the island's curse?"

"Yep" Erza replied with soft smile on her face.

The sailor stared at the group with his mouth agape. "Here, hop in then!" he waved at his boat, inviting team Natsu to get aboard.

"Huh?" Lucy questioned "He changed his mind that quick?"

"Weird…" Gray noted with suspicious.

"Get in people" Erza ordered, slightly pushing Lucy forward to board the boat. "What's wrong Natsu?" Dragon-knight asked as she noticed Natsu's concerned sight.

"There is something strange about this guy's soul… It definitely good one, but strange…" God slayer noted. "Ah, it's not of my business. Let's go – we're going to find a dragon's heart!" Natsu remembered his true goal on the island.

"You are incorrigible…" Erza embraced her fiancé tenderly as her beautiful brown orbs became filled with adoration.

* * *

"I'm getting this creeping feeling… of anxiety…" Lucy informed the others as she sat in the boat hugging her knees together and shivering a little.

Natsu looked at Lucy with irony before nodding to Sin. Lil boney dragon landed on Lucy's shoulder and spoke out: "He wants to say 'too late, blonde'"

Erza were sitting on Natsu's lap with her head leaned over the board.

"Hey, old man – why did you let us on the boat after all?" Gray asked, examining the sailor, whose back was facing the sea and almost cloudless sky.

The sailor turned to the Ice mage and said, "My name is Bobo. I used to live on Galuna Island some time ago…"

'_Weird name…'_ Gray thought.

"Huh, you're from there?" Lucy asked.

Bobo didn't reply with a yes, his eyes fix on the five. He turned his head, the sunlight casting a shadow on his left side of his face, "I fled from Galuna Island. Disaster will befall you all, too. Such is the fate of those who visit that island."

Lucy's brown eyes stared unblinkingly at Bobo, the man asking them, "Can you really lift the curse?"

Stellar mage looked at Natsu and the sickly Erza, Gray passionlessly looked into the sea. Lucy turned back to the sailor and gasped as she saw what Bobo revealed to them. His left arm wasn't the same as the arm he used to steer the boat; in fact it wasn't even human's. It looks to be a demon's arm, a dark purple one to be more accurate.

"This demon's curse..." He added holding his hand out in front of everyone.

"Mister! Your arm…!" Gray said as he looked back to the sailor seeing his arm.

Lucy's brown eyes remained open witnessing what she saw, "Curse? You don't mean…?"

"So, you too have some left arm issues?" Natsu smirked. Looks like he was not worried about demonic arm. "Okay, I think we're got far enough from the port. Sin, c'mon – it's time for a work" Natsu stated as he removed his glove, revealing burning fleshless bones.

"Ugh… what happened to your arm?" The sailor asked as he gulped a little. "Are you cursed too?"

"Well, in the manner of speaking…" Natsu answered as he gathered blue flame in his left hand and threw it into Sin. With bright blue flash little bone creature was transformed into rideable skeletal dragon. Natsu stood up and put his beloved onto Sin's back. "Fly" Natsu commanded and Sin soared into the air. Erza felt herself much better. Sin started to slowly fly around the boat, saving his magic so he could fly as long as possible. "You are really enjoying being a dragon rider, are not you?" Natsu asked with smile as he looked at Erza's happy face. But of course he already knew the answer – it was her childhood dream – to fly.

* * *

Open sea, not far from Galuna Island. Year X784, July 13, 9:25 PM.

Sin again soared into the air after second "refueling" by Natsu's magic. To be honest – glowing skeletal dragon looked quite creepy against the background of the night sky, but it seems that Erza was not bothered by it at all – she wanted to remain in the sky (or anywhere else but not aboard the boat) as long as possible.

"I can see the island!" Erza called out from above, gaining everyone's attention.

"Yes, there it is." Bobo said as he lift up his head slightly, looking to something in the distance. "The cursed island Galuna" He added.

An Island could be seen in the distance. There was the destination of their request and the place where Natsu hoped to find the knowledge, which could be used to unlock the true dragon might that now sleeps inside his beloved Titania. There was no going back now. No ways to return to the mainland – Fairy Tail wizards do their job to the end. They saw the island, each with their own feelings of seeing the island. Gray a stern look, Lucy a little fearful and Natsu with anticipation. Erza's examined the island mindfully with her dragon eyes. Lucy gasped, she too noticed something strange with the mountain, "What is that? The mountaintop is glowing…" as above the mountain, many blue robed figures were circled around a glowing light in the center. Their arms spread out, faces covered by a mask with a strange symbol on it as they chanted.

Fairy Tail mages was so consumed by island's mysterious look that none of them noticed a big wave that was forming behind them.

"What's that sound?" Gray asked while Lucy looked toward the island like spellbound. Ice mage looked back to see what was the sound and panicked a little when he saw the wave.

"H-Hey!" he called nervously to Lucy and the others.

"It's going to engulf us! Hold on!" Gray ordered the others.

"Not a chance! I'll neutralize this wave!" Natsu shouted as he stood up and prepared to cast his spell: **"****Metsujin Ōgi…"** [God Slayers Secret Art…]

"No, Natsu, wait!" Erza exclaimed heading toward the wave. "If there is some enemy forces on the island then your spell will alert everyone! I'll deal with this wave!"

"Okay…" Natsu said, interrupting his spell casting sequence.

"**Rengoku no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [The Knight: Purgatory Armor] Magic glow covered Erza's body as she equipped the black armor with many spiked features and quite menacing appearance as her hair spikes outward to match the design of the armor. "Sin, that way!" dragon-mage shouted, preparing to strike by her large black mace that has the same spike-like design as the armor itself.

"Aye aye, ma'am!" Sin saluted and headed toward designated direction. When they were close enough, Erza swung her mace, sanding a shockwave toward the tidal wave. Shockwave clashed with the tidal wave and made a cut in it, about nine meters wide.

"That's my girl…" Natsu praised his beloved with a smile as boat passed right through the cut that Erza made in tidal wave.

"Huh?! Where's the boat owner?!" Lucy then realized that Bobo was gone as she stood up on the boat in shock.

"…Did he fell overboard?!" Gray asked turning his head.

"Sin, Erza – check the waters from above – that guy with demon arm had disappeared!" Natsu called for his partners, he forgot the name of the sailor.

"I don't like this…" Natsu murmured to himself after five minutes of fruitless search, things continued to become more and more mysterious. "Anyway, the island is near – we can discuss this oddity when we'll be on the dry land" God slayer said. He turned toward the stern and extended his arms forward. Crimson energy engulfed his hands, creating a jet thrust. Boat started to move forward, quite fast. In fifteen minutes the whole team was on the beach. Time was about 10 PM.

Sin landed nearby and let Erza to hop off from his back before returning to his normal form. Erza came close to Natsu and without saying anything kissed him with all the passion that she got. "Don't mention it…" Salmon haired boy said with soft smile as she released his lips – that was her way to say "thank you" – Natsu turned several hours of torturing motion sickness into several hours of flight that she enjoyed so much.

"What was with that man, anyway?" Lucy asked as she thought about Bobo, his demon arm, and his abrupt disappearance and what he was talking about, "He said something about a demon's curse..."

"Don't worry Lucy, we'll dig to the middle of it. But first we have to find a local village." Natsu stated, looking around. The skies became cloudy so it was hard to see anything around.

"We are on Galuna Island people, we don't know what to expect here, we're on the S-class mission after all, so keep your eyes open until we know what we're dealing with." Erza said, trying to find some kind of road toward the village.

"Yes, I remember - the village chief is the one who posted the job. Let's go there first." Lucy agreed as she unwrapped the request and examined it one more time.

"Okay, I hope they don't mind late visitors…" Gray said as he and others followed Erza who used her dragon eyes to find a way through dark forest.

* * *

Near Galuna Island's village. Year X784, July 13, 11:10 PM.

"Natsu, we have to tell the others about our real goal on this island…" Erza whispered as they came close to the village.

"Yes, I'll tell them right after we'll meet with the village's elder." Natsu nodded.

After an hour-long walk through the forest, team Natsu found themselves staring at a large wooden fence with a 'KEEP OUT' sign on the gates.

"It's nice that we made it, but what is this?" Gray asked with his arms folded.

"What does it mean, 'Keep out'?" Sin asked, scratching his bone head.

"Excuse me! Please open up!" Lucy called to anyone on the other side. They waited for a few second, but get no response.

"Shall I do a 'knock-knock'?" Natsu asked as crimson energy engulfed his arms.

"Let's wait a few more seconds" Erza shook her head, still waiting for a response.

"Who's there?!" a voice from above the gate called. The voice got their attention, seeing figures up on top the gate.

"We're from the Fairy Tail mage guild!" Lucy called from below smiling proudly.

"Ah, yes – we've been notified that guild named Fairy Tail took our request. Please – show us your guild stamps" the man on top of the gate called down.

"Do it people – it's their right to ask for a confirmation of our identity, this is why we wore this stamps in the first place" Erza said as she showed her left elbow to the guards.

Natsu showed to the guards the crimson stamp on his left bicep as Lucy held out her left hand into the air, showing the pink stamp on the back of the hand, "They're real!" one of the guards said amazed.

Gray lifted his shirt to give the guards view of the blue stamp on his left pectoral. "They really came!" another guard said astonished.

With their proof given to them, the gate pulled up as Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza with Sin on her shoulder now has permission to enter. "Please get in, I'll get the elder" said one of the guards.

Inside stood the villagers of the Island, but their faces were covered by the wraps with only a slit to see their eyes. They each wore cloaks like Bobo, but were lighter than his. The one most distinguished was the one in front caring a staff with moon-shaped top end.

"Thanks for coming here, mages. I am Moka, the elder of this island village." He greeted the mages, "Let's get right down to business. Please have a look." He looks back from the mages and to the villagers and shouted, "Everyone, take off your robes"

One by one, they each removed the cloaks, each revealed to have either a demon blue arm or a demon leg or even horns, while their normal selves dressed in islander fashion, felt uneven to the demon limbs. They frowned, disappointed to what they look like... Gray and Lucy observed the villagers appearance, linking them to Bobo.

"Just like the man on the boat." Gray realized.

"Yeah." agreed Lucy hand to her chin.

"I saw many curses used by criminal that I caught, but this one is very original, I give that to curse makers…" Natsu noted. "And all of their souls are odd, too" God slayer added very quietly so only Erza's dragon's ears could hear him.

"Everything on this island is affected by this curse, even dogs and birds." Moka added, pointing at the trees with weird looking birds.

"I don't mean to question you, but what makes you believe it's a curse?" Gray asked calmly, "Couldn't be a contagious disease?"

"We've consulted dozens of doctors, but they say no such disease exists." Moka replied, "Plus the moon's magic has something to do with us taking these forms."

"The moon's magic?" Erza asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This island has absorbed moonlight since ancient times. It made the entire island shine beautifully like the moon itself." Moka replied, "However, three years ago, the moon's light suddenly turned purple."

"A purple moon?" Natsu repeated.

"Look people! The moon is coming out!" Sin pointed to the night sky, the clouds were parting.

Everyone look up at the sky to see the clouds parting too as the moon were made visible into the sky. But there wasn't a normal as they thought it would be, but a moon tinted in purple hung over their heads.

"It's true! The moon is purple!" Lucy gasped.

"Now this is creepy." Gray commented the area bathed in the purple moonlight.

"It's a curse." Moka said with drops the drops of sweat falling from his face, "This is the moon's magic."

"I do not feel any magic in this light" Natsu stated confidently. "This light is weird, but it's not magical…"

Erza too looked at the purple moon with narrowed eyes "While we were in the sea the moon's color was normal… whatever it is – it's only _here_…"

As if on cue, the villagers began to scream in pain as they clinched to their limbs while half of the team was shocked, and Natsu and Erza were watching mindfully over villagers' transformation. It was like watching horror movie as the villagers' bodies started to rip, revealing demonic arms and faces too. The group was watching the transforming happening right before their eye.

"What the…" said Lucy.

"What's going on?!" asked Gray.

"Keep calm people, they are not dangerous" Natsu ordered to his team.

After the transformation was over, Moka and all the villagers were now complete demons; their bodies' were of different colors ranging from red, blue, and teal, horns and elongated noses too. Some appeared with reptilian scales, and some like regular demons. There was no doubt about it, this was the curse placed on them.

"I apologize for the shock." Moka said apologizing to Natsu's group.

"No need" Natsu carelessly waved him off "It's been a lot worse, but I can say that you were right to ask for the guild's help."

"What in the world is this?" Gray asked bewildered.

"You poor people…" Lucy said in a soft synthetic way.

"Pull yourself together you two" Sin addressed to a stellar and an ice mages, he tranquilly sat on Erza's shoulder.

"He is right" Scarlet dragon-knight agreed, "This people need our help, not our pity or curiosity"

"Anyway, as you can see, we take on the form of demons whenever the purple moon is out," explained Moka, as one of the demonized children was crying while his parents tried to console him as more of the demon villagers were crying too, "If this isn't a curse, what else it is?!"

"Actually I can give you a dozen of possible reasons for such a metamorphosis, but we came here not to play a lottery." Natsu answered for elder's question.

Moka continued on, "Come morning, we'll be back to normal. However, these are some who lose their minds and never change back."

"Oh, no…" Lucy said softly.

"We've since made it a rule…" Moka added lowering his head in shame, "…to kill those who transform into mindless monsters."

Lucy and Gray gasped in horror at this piece of info. "This is a harsh method…" Natsu noted as Erza watched at the elder with an odd sight. They really killed those people who turned, just like that?

"But, even though they might turn back to normal?" Knight-mage asked.

"We have to, or they'll kill us all!" Moka replied back, "We tried capturing them, but they just break free." he added, shaking his head in disappointment. He closed his eyes and continued on, "As a result…" he held a picture in his hand and shed a tear of the picture of someone, "I had to kill my own son. My son, whose mind became that of a demon." he continued on, shedding even more tears.

Lucy gasped, realizing who the man in the picture was. The same man who brought them here by boat… "Th-that man…" Lucy stammered. "Huh, but yesterday we…!"

"Shh!" Gray ordered as Lucy looked back to him for a second. Even if he thought the same the same, it won't be true for Moka who said he killed his own son. He whispered to the Celestial mage. "I figured out why that man vanished. It's because he can't rest in peace."

Lucy's brown eyes widen with shock. If he was right, then Bobo probably wanted to remain dead to his father. Or as Lucy thought, _'A ghost…?'_

"You both are all wet" Natsu snorted at Lucy and Gray, causing them both to look at him with surprise and resent. "I can see the souls of living beings – trust me – that guy was alive as much as you two…" He clinched his left mutilated arm "…and even a bit more than I"

"Please, save this island!" Moka pleaded tearfully, wiping tears from his eyes as his voice sounds cracking, "It's only a matter of time until we all lose our minds and become demons…!"

"We won't let that happen!" Gray demanded to the chief, "We'll figure something out!"

Moka lowered his head down again, speaking to the group, "There's only way to lift the curse… The moon…" they look up to the moon as he added, "Please destroy the moon."

Destroy the moon? That's an odd and weird request. Lucy and Gray gasped slightly at the request they were given, Erza smiled a little and Natsu and Sin made a face-palm. This guy really is desperate if he asked someone to do such a thing.

"Listen you, we already told you twice that the moon have noth…" Natsu's speech was interrupted as Erza softly closed his mouth by her palm.

"Okay, we'll deal with this curse, but we need some time to plan our further action." Erza said with kind smile "Can you spare some quarters for us?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind to get some sleep too." Lucy agreed.

"Of course, please follow me, I'll show you to your quarters." Moka replied and led Natsu's group and spare hut for them to sleep in. Life in this village was simple, and hut which was given to team Natsu was the same as other houses here. Completely wooden building with a thatched roof, one large room, filled with simple furniture and wooden floor. The room was divided into two parts by a lace curtain. Natsu and Erza occupied one half of the room, leaving the other half for Lucy and Gray. Sin decided to explore the village since he does not need to sleep.

"I have nothing against fresh air, but choosing between it and sex I'll prefer the second one…" Natsu stated as he examined the room. Lucy and Gray both gulped at this statement and Erza froze on place is if she turned into stone – looks like only now she understood that here will be no love joys tonight. "Sorry sweetheart, you can't imagine how much I enjoy your screams of love, but villagers will not." Natsu added carelessly as he looked at Lucy's shocked face. Yep, Erza is that loud – if she and Natsu were not live in the town's outskirts then whole Magnolia would know how long they… and how much times she... well, you can guess from here.

They each drop their bags on the floor and decided to think about the request they were given. Sin looked out into the sky, his gaze on the purple tinted moon and sky, "The more I look at it, the odder the moon seems."

"Sin. Hurry and shut the window." Lucy, dressed in her pajamas, requested to the skeletal dragon while digging into her bag, "You hear the village chief. We'll wind up demons too if we're exposed to the moonlight for too long."

"Oh, c'mon Lucy, drop it already. This curse have nothing to do with the moon, not directly at least" Erza said with a face-palm.

"But elder said…" Lucy tried to say but Natsu interrupted her.

"Elder is a superstitious hick, like the rest of the villagers. But you Lucy are mage, mage of Fairy Tail – there is no place for superstition in our work, we are working with fact and information." Natsu said, looking at Lucy's eyes. "Trust me – purple light itself is harmless. This is a consequence, not a cause"

"Okay, I got that you saying" Lucy nodded.

"Asking us to destroy the moon is a bit much…" Gray agreed.

"Destroy the moon – that solution comes from the victim's point of view" Lucy agreed "There should be some other way to break the curse"

"So, you're suggesting to start from the beginning then?" Sin wondered.

"Exactly. We'll search the island tomorrow and see what we can find. It might lead to what is causing the curse and how to break it." Erza confirmed.

"However, guys, there is the one more thing that we should discuss." Natsu said, gaining attention. "Lucy, Gray, do you remember that Erza told you about the dragon lacrima and grimoire?" Lucy nodded as Gray just remained silent. "Well, it seems that I screwed up with it. When I found these items I decided that they are set. But I was wrong. Grimoire and Lacrima actually do not match…" Both Lucy and Gray looked surprised. "But now I have a reason to believe that the right grimoire or at least some information about the dragon, whose soul was encased into lacrima, might be found on this island."

"I want to be honest – we came here for the book, we took the mission while we are about it." Erza added as Lucy and Gray became silent for a moment.

"Okay, but does it change anything for us?" Ice mage asked few seconds later.

"I don't think so" Erza replied "I just thought that you two should know what's going on – we might stay here for a while after we'll be done with the mission"

"It seems that first we have to deal with the curse - this purple moon is getting on my nerves" Natsu added.

"Okay, then we'll talk about it tomorrow" Gray said as he lay down on the mattress and closed his eyes.

"Yeah… I'm sleepy, too…" Lucy yawned sweetly "Thanks for saying to us anyway. Good night…" Lucy added as she too lay down on the mattress.

"See you tomorrow," Natsu said as Erza waved to her nakamas and they went behind the curtain.

Gray fell asleep almost instantly, but Lucy was unable to stop thinking about the curse. Erza and Natsu too were not asleep yet. "I did not ex-equipped it for more than eight months" Erza noted as she summoned her Heart Kreuz pajamas. Natsu stripped to his boxers and lay on his stomach as Erza sat on his waist and started to massage his back. She was terrible at it first, but she mastered that skill during last eight months and now gave Natsu great pleasure – her strong but very tender hands were like meant to do it. "So, what's the plan?" She asked.

"First we're going to check the large pyramid on the other side of the island; I bet this is the "moon temple" mentioned in the cult's manuscripts. If there is some evil presence on the island – it most likely there, too…" Natsu answered before groaning "…oh, your hands are magnificent"

"I know" Smiled she-dragon. The clock just hit midnight.

* * *

Galuna island, team Natsu's point of disembarkation. Year X784, July 14, 00:05 AM.

A silver-haired boy with dark grayish blue-purple eyes appeared on the beach. He was dressed in white pants, black, gold trimmed, vest and brown boots, but most noticeable item was his white scarf, decorated with scale-like patterns. He was accompanied by a small blue winged cat with a white underbelly.

"Happy, someone was here" He said, sniffing the air. "At least four people were here about two hours ago. It seems my eyes did not fail me – that was the boat…"

"Intruders?" Blue cat asked.

"No idea, they went that way…" He pointed into the jungle "…they probably went to the local village" Boy suggested.

"Haru, are you going to tell Leon about it?" Happy wondered.

"Nope, I'll let this snob to find out by himself" Haru snorted. "We're almost done with the moon drip. If he'll be busy by them – the better – I'll be able to test my powers without waiting for my queue …"

* * *

Spell list:

**En no Metsuryū Mahō** – Flame Dragon Slayer Magic

**Metsuryū Mahō** – Dragon Slayer Magic

**Metsujin Mahō** – God Slayer Magic

**Metsu Mahō** – Slayer Magic

**Shisō no Mahō** – Death Frost Magic

**Metsujin Ōgi…** – God Slayers Secret Art…

**Rengoku no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Purgatory Armor

* * *

Well, that's it people. Chapter nine has been completed. Sorry if it was boring, I promise next one will be full of action. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW!**_ See you in the next chapter – **The heart of the Dragon.**


	10. The Heart of the Dragon

Good morning people (or good _'your local time of the day_')! Despite Mashima-sensei continues to turn his characters into emo-kids (read 334), I'm here with my new chapter. Thanks everyone who left the review, I'm glad to know reader's opinion.

**About my other story:** Yeah I know I had to update '**Blessing of the scarlet dragon**' three days ago, but I have some kind of author's block with that story, I'm trying to resolve the situation though.

* * *

Answers for the **review**ers:

**FanFictionHunter: **Natsu's house is a three-story detached house. The next chapter will contain an omake about the girls who were forced to clean his house – there will be some details =)

Nope, cuz Erza not a 2nd generation dragon slayer – just read the chapter =)

**That One Guy: **Can't say I really understood what you meant…

**Guest №1: **Thanks for the support.

**Guest №2:** Man are you kidding me? Like the most of the OC's which are planned for this story Haru is a 'Rave Master' character, adopted for FT universe.

**Guest №3:** Many thanks for your support.

**Mira-san:** Of course. For example I'm going to forfeit Loki's ark since it have almost nothing to do with Natsu and Erza. Instead we'll join the slayers in their search for the new sword for Erza, since Natsu destroyed her 'Crimson Sakura'

* * *

**Everyone:** Thanks for the **reviews** people, now let's proceed, shall we? I'm pretty proud with this chapter, I hope it will be enough compensation for the previous one, which was a bit boring. I wish you a happy reading =)

**One more thing:** Yeah, I know that enemies seems a bit weak comparing to Natsu and Erza, but the first tough enemy actually appeared during Phantom Lord ark, so just wait a little =)

* * *

**Chapter X – The Heart of the Dragon**

…

Galuna island, local village, Year X784, July 14, 07:05 AM.

"We're sleeping Lucy, go away…" Natsu answered sleepily as he embraced his sleeping scarlet haired fairy tightly. "It's too early, let us sleep."

"Give it up Lucy, they already woke up early yesterday, no way they are going to do the same today," Sin said to Lucy. "If you continue to bother them you'll only get your ass kicked."

"He's right Lucy, it's too damn early," Gray agreed with Sin. "So, if you do not want to sleep – go for some training." The ice-mage closed his eyes.

* * *

Two hours later

"Without that odd moon this island looks quite nice…" Erza noted as she and her team stood outside the village. Both Erza and her beloved god slayer were energized and ready to go.

"What's with this look Lucy?" Gray asked as when he noticed she looked gloomy and tired.

"I didn't s…s…" she yawned "…sleep well," the blonde answered as she took a silver key from her belt and called, "**Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation! Hororogiumu!**" Out of the magic seal came a giant grandfather clock with arms, legs and a dial-like face... The Clock spirit announced, "The time is 9:28."

"Okay people, first we're going to explore the temple. Maybe there we will be able to find a way to lift the curse...without destroying the moon, I mean," Natsu chuckled a little.

"Right, but we should be careful. We don't know what's out there… she says calmly," Horologium (with Lucy riding inside) translated.

"Uhh, are you sure you're using your celestial spirits properly?" Gray asked, looking back at her and Sin, who was now riding on top of the clock.

"Somehow this habit of hers is getting on my nerves…" Erza said to Natsu and he nodded in agreement.

"Don't forget we're dealing with a curse, we don't know what else is affected… she says," Lucy said to the others as Horologium translated to the outside.

Erza sniffed the air. "What the hell… This smell is awful…" she said as they continued walking. A few moments later they were able to hear the loud sound of something big which drew their attention and made them turn around. Natsu, Gray, and Erza turned their attention to the source of the sound, Natsu asking in a concerned tone, "What is it?"

The three then flinched in surprise as something big was looming over them, it's eyes gleaming yellow. They were a little freaked out by the creature's extravagant being.

"Wh-what the…?!" Erza exclaimed.

"It's huge!" Gray realized.

"Oh, come on…" Natsu shouted in disbelief.

"Beat it up, you guys… she says in a commanding tone," Horologium translated.

Gray placed his left hand over his right palm, mist emanating from around it as a light blue magic circle appeared. He announced, "**Aisu Meiku:**" as he conjured a shield made of Ice, adding, "**Shīrudo!**" to protect Natsu, Erza, Sin, and Lucy. The creature emitted a cloud of foul-smelling gas, drawing disgusted coughs from the three outside mages. Inside Horologium, Lucy and Sin were wondering what was happening outside, the latter showing a smirk on his face, the former a look of shock.

"Hey what's going on," Horologium translated for Lucy, before Lucy look down inside to see Sin near her, "And when did you get in?... Just now… they said."

But then Horologium covered his mouth from the smell as his time was up and he disappeared, leaving Sin and Lucy out in a circle of gas. They drop down to the ground as Lucy and Sin screamed in unison smelling the foul odor, "Stinky!"

As the gas cloud dissipated, Lucy was able to see what attacked them, "A rat!" she screamed.

It was a giant turquoise colored rat and, judging by how it was dressed, it appeared to be female. She wore a black corset top with pink edges and black lace in a criss-cross design across the front. A white, lace headband and a red ribbon was tied across her chest.

While Gray and Natsu were still on their feet, Erza was out cold from the smell. Gray called, "Hey Erza! Stop lying around!"

"She has a strong sense of smell, so…" Sin pointed out.

As the rat bared it's teeth, Lucy got up and screamed, "Run!"

"No way!" Natsu retorted, he was steaming from fury. "I won't let this idiotic thing make fun of my bride and go unpunished!" Natsu growled, slamming his fists together and summoning his destructive powers:

"_When you brought destruction to the west..._

_And you brought destruction to the east..._

_Scavengers will have their feast…_"

**"Senjin no Ukyogun!"** [War God's Raven Flock]

Natsu created a large energy cluster, which contained a hundred crimson essences, each taking the shape of a bird. "I'll teach you to brush your teeth!" the god slayer shouted and launched his spell into the rat. Natsu's raven flock created multiple explosions along the Rat's body, throwing it into the air and knocking it out.

"Hey guys," Lucy called out, pointing to something that looked like a pyramid, "That looks like the entrance to the temple!" She look to them adding, "Let's get inside while we can!"

"It's knocked out Lucy, no need to be hasty…" Erza mumbled as he slowly stood up, still holding her poor nose.

"Damn, this is the most preposterous monster I've ever seen," Natsu stated as he examined the monster closer. "Okay people, let's go inside the temple."

* * *

The group inspected the inside of the Temple of the Moon; like any old temple it was dusty and broken with stone debris littering the ground.

"Wow! This place is big!" Lucy said amazed.

"It's all busted up," Sin commented.

"Just how old is this place?" Gray asked, examining the ceiling and walls.

"Judging by how broken it is, it looks a few hundred years, give or take," Erza observed picking up a piece of the temple.

"Huh? That's an odd decoration…" Natsu noted, looking at something in the walls. There appeared to be red moons on the walls, just as aged as the temple itself. On top was a crescent moon with many full moons scattered all over the wall they were facing.

"They're moons," Gray realized eyeing the moons on the wall along with the rest. The ice-mage read something off the wall for them to hear: "This place was originally called 'Island of the Moon'."

Lucy started to ponder, her left hand to her chin, "A moon island, a moon curse, and moon emblems… There's something fishy about these ruins."

"Thanks, cap!" Natsu exclaimed ironically.

"Man, this place is falling apart. Watch your steps people, this floor does not seems safe…" Erza warned her team as she examined the floor closer, leaning to the column. However, the columns appeared to be unsafe too as it started to fall under the armored wizard's weight while the others stared at the walls. The column fell on the floor and it started to crumble, making the others scream as they fell with Erza screaming "I'm sorry!" above everyone else.

From outside the temple a loud _BOOM_ was heard as the group crashed into the ground, covered in the rubble of the floor which was now the ceiling to a whole new room.

Natsu emerged from the rubble, gasping for air as he called out for his team, looking from left to right, "Hey! Are you guys okay?!"

'_No! Thanks to your fatuous girlfriend!'_ Lucy mentally yelled at him but dared not to say it aloud.

Natsu helped Erza get out from the rubble and embraced her tightly, whispering with a smile, "Don't worry, I'm still in love you…"

Once on their feet, the group looked up to the ceiling at the hole they fell from. "Sin, can you fly us all up?" Lucy suggested to the only member who could fly.

"Probably, with Natsu's help," Lil Dragon answered.

"But we don't need to fly out of here for now," Erza said, dusting off her skirt and chestplate.

"We're beneath the ruins…" Gray confirmed to the party.

"Yep, it seems like some sort of secret cave, and since we're here – let's do some exploring," the god slayer said as he headed to an opening, holding Erza's hand. The team followed the Ravager and Titania through the opening

"Now what…" the god slayer gasped at what he was now looking at.

Lucy, Sin, and Gray caught up with the Slayers, finally exiting the opening to see what was going on.

"Natsu?" asked the blonde curiously.

"What's wrong?" Gray wondered.

"What the hell is this?" Erza asked, staring at something with wide, unbelieving eyes. "Living magic…" Natsu answered, clenching his mutilated arm. Once Gray, Sin, and Lucy stood next to the ice, they understood their teammate's reactions.

* * *

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Akuma Deliora)

What Team Natsu was staring at was not something normally found in caves, let alone secret ones. Gray couldn't believe what he was looking at out of shock rather than fear; why was this here? Lucy was terrified by the sight. Incased in ice, was a demon. It was large, probably bigger than an average building; its appearance well-built like a demon should be with dark blue skin. Gray confirmed what this demon was, eyes still wide in shock, "Deliora…?!"

He step forward. "That can't be, what is Deliora doing here?! It's impossible, he can't be here!" His voice shook with anger, fists clenched. "It's… It's…!" Gray stammered, trying to find the right words to describe the situation.

"Gray, calm down," Lucy said solemnly placing her hand on his shoulder.

"If Gray is right, then this thing is called **Akuma no Hakai, Deriora.** [Demon of Destruction]," Natsu started to explain. "I have read the legend about this demon. He was also called **Hai no Zankeki…** [Scourge of the North]."

Gray took in a sharp breath between clenched teeth before looking back up at the frozen demon. "Yes, it is him…" the ice mage confirmed. "Deliora… The demon of misfortune and disaster…"

"So, you can't remember the names of half of our guild members but remember the name of some demon from the old legend?" Sin whispered to Natsu.

"Buzz off!" God slayer whispered in answer before saying aloud to the team "And from the familiar feeling in my arm I can tell that this demon is just another page from the book of Zeref… It feels almost the same as Lullaby"

"What?!" Gray asked angrily, mentally comparing the two demons. The salmon-haired mage just nodded silently as Erza grabbed Natsu's left arm. Gray stared at the iced demon, eyes still narrowed in anger. "So, Zeref…and Deliora… Damn… He looks exactly the same as then… What's going on?" he asked suddenly, turning around.

(End of Song)

The team turned toward the sound of approaching footsteps. The footsteps were getting louder, meaning who or what was coming into the cave they were standing in.

"Shh , someone's coming!" Lucy shushed at Gray, "Let's hide!"

Two young boys entered the room: one more animal than man. The one on the left was a lean-built, mildly muscular young man of average height with distinctive animal features. The individual on his right was a short, slim young man distinguished by his extremely bushy, squared, black eyebrows. Their names were Toby Horhorta and Yuka Suzuki.

"This is where the voices were coming from," Yuka sneered looking around for the source of the voices.

Toby growled slightly. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Sin had hidden themselves behind some rocks, seeing the two enter where they once stood. The team saw them coming closer, the shorter of the two complaining, "It's daylight. I'm sleepy…"

Toby growled again as they continued pass the team, unaware that they were there.

"Toby," Yuka address his comrade, "have you been soaking in the moon drip? You have ears and stuff."

"No! These are decorations! Get it through your head!" he snapped while Yuka smiled.

"I was only teasing you, idiot," Yuka assured him.

Toby groaned sadly at the remark. "You're so mean."

"Moon Drip? Could that be the curse?" Lucy pondered, looking past the rock she was hiding behind to hear their conversation. The stellar mage gasped as another person entered the cave.

The third person to enter the cave was a young woman, sixteen in appearance, who had blue eyes, fuchsia pink hair and a curvaceous body. Her hair was tied back in pigtails with bangs on either side of her face, a ribbon was tied around her neck as a choker, a purple and pink dress with laced spaghetti string and light pink trimmings, black leggings, and thigh-length boots. Her dress appeared to have two long and thin wings at the back. This girl's name was Sherry Blendy.

Sherry walk into the cave, announcing her presence to Toby and the tired Yuka. "Toby, Yuka, I have a bad news," she said sadly.

"Sherry," Yuka said simply.

Toby greeted the pink haired girl with a happy growl and wave.

"Angelica was harassed by someone," she stated, hands clasp together as Erza gave Natsu a slap on the back of his head. Thanks to his thirst for violence these weirdos knew about intrusion.

"It's just a dumb rat! Don't give it a deluxe name!" Toby shouted.

"She is not a rat!" Sherry retorted, "Angelica is a hunter that races through the darkness…" She paused, "And love."

"_Something is severely wrong about her…' _Lucy thought with a sweatdrop, already thinking this girl is was weirder than the other two. "Talk about a serious weirdo. Especially that last thing she said," she whispered with wide eyes.

"They're not from this island. They're smell is different," Erza said, giving the three a sniff with her nose.

"And their souls are the souls of pitiful people…" Natsu added as he examined the group.

"And they don't seem cursed, either," Sin interjected, "I'm not sure about that ear guy though."

"Intruders, huh?" spoke Yuka, getting the four mages back to listening in.

"Just when the moon's light is nearly gathered, too. So sad." Sherry spoke sorrowfully. She looked to her comrades adding, "Let us get rid of the intruders before the Sub-Zero Emperor hears of this." She paused, Yuka smirks and Toby's lips draw back from his teeth to show sharp tips of his canines as she added, "Yes, before the moon shows itself… "

"I agree," Yuka nodded. Toby growled in agreement.

Sherry continued on, "Now that they've seen Deliora, we cannot let them get back alive. We will give the intruders eternal sleep…" she paused, but added, "In other words, love."

"You mean death," Toby corrected her as a sweatdrop went down the back of his head while Yuka kept smiling.

"All right, I've heard enough of this idiotic babbling," Natsu stated as he cast his spell: **"Sentō Chūkaku!"** [Combat Core]. Crimson light embraced Natsu as he dashed toward the enemy group with immense speed. In a fraction of a second he appeared within two meters from them and used his spell point-blank.** "Senjin no Sōken!"** [War God's Twin Blades]

"Wha…"

"Who…"

"Hey…"

All three enemy mages were smashed into the wall as Natsu cast another spell: **"Senjin no Dogō!"** [War God's Howl] A flow of crimson energy hit the enemies and exploded, knocking all three of them out completely.

"Oops…" Natsu said. The three appeared to be much weaker than he expected. Now questioning them was not possible for some time.

"Don't worry, I still love you…" Erza quoted Natsu's own words with a tender smile.

"I wonder who this 'Sub-Zero Emperor' is…" Sin asked, floating near Natsu.

"Why did they bring Deliora here…?!" Gray said angrily, "How did they find where he was sealed, anyway?!"

"Sorry Gray, my bad. I'm afraid we have to wait some time before we can get some info out of them," Natsu admitted, stepping on Sherry's butt.

"Where he was sealed?" Erza asked for a clarification.

"This thing was sealed in an iceberg in a northern continent," Gray answered, his mind flashing back to what the demon was, "It's an immortal demon that ravaged the Isvan region ten years ago… My master, Ur, the one who taught me magic, risked her life to seal it away!" He looked to the iced demon, hands clenched in anger. "Dunno what it has to do with the island's curse, but it doesn't belong here!" His hand began to charge with Ice magic and now emitting a mist. The others were concerned and worried for their fellow mage. "Sub-Zero Emperor… Who are you?!"

There was anger in Gray's eyes that not even Natsu or Erza had ever seen before; it was a side of Gray they had never witness until that moment. It did not just feel like anger, but another feeling…a feeling of darkness.

"You'll have hell to pay if you try to tarnish Ur's name!" he gritted his teeth.

"Gray…" Lucy said quietly.

Gray kept his eyes on the iced demon, uttering the name once more, "Deliora…"

"He was sealed by your master?" Sin asked.

"Yes," Gray replied, his back still facing his friends and his gaze set on Deliora.

"You're saying this was brought here from the northern content?" Natsu inquired.

"Could this demon be the cause of the island's curse?!" Lucy wondered.

"It's definitely possible," Gray said. "This demon is still alive and all…"

"And creating a demon that can put a curse upon innocent people is definitely in Zeref's style…" Natsu added, remembering the Lullaby, death curse wielder.

"My master Ur cast a spell called **Zettai Tōketsu: Aisu no Sheru** [The absolute freezing: Iced Shell] on this demon." Gray explained, "It's an unmalting ice. Not even the most powerful explosive flame spells can melt it. Why would they carry this off if they knew that?" he asked.

"Maybe they don't know," Lucy answered. "Maybe they're trying to melt it somehow."

Gray snapped, scaring the Celestial mage, "For what, though?!"

"I-I don't know…" she replied nervously.

"This is too much," Gray sighed. "Who would bring Deliora here, and why?"

"We have to ask these idiots, but I'm afraid we'll have to wait some time before we can do that…" Natsu suggested. "They seem bent to releasing it, they might know something on what they're trying to do. By the way we need to tie them up…" He added as Erza summoned a bunch of ropes from her magical space.

"Yeah," Gray agreed, still facing Deliora, "We'll wait here, there is another reason for waiting."

"What is it?" Sin asked curiously.

"We have to wait for the moon to come out." He replied to the skeletal dragon's question.

"The moon? But it's still morning," Lucy said, folding her arms. "We have to wait that long?"

"Yes," Gray and Natsu replied at the same time. The ice mage about the moon and the god slayer about the enemies to regain consciousness.

"What is this about, Gray?" Erza asked.

"They said something about 'moonlight being fully gathered soon'." Gray replied with his hands still balled into fists, "I get the strange feeling that the island's curse and Deliora have something to do with the moon."

"Oh, right." Lucy too remembered thinking back to the ones called Toby, Yuka, and Sherry and their conversation they had. "I am curious to know what's happening and what they're up to…"

"All right then – Gray, Lucy – you two and Sin will remain here. Watch over these three…" Natsu finished with the ropes and enemies. "This case is becoming complicated and we can't waste time, so Erza and I are going to search the temple for information about the dragon."

"Okay…" Gray nodded. He had no reasons to ask them to stay.

"Wait, if you're going up there to the temple then someone can spot you!" Lucy warned.

"Don't worry Lucy, we are not going up – we are going deeper in the temple," Natsu replied as he pointed down on the floor.

"What? Where?" Erza asked in surprise.

"Here is another secret passage, there, behind the demon," Natsu pointed behind Deliora. "It's hidden by magic but I know it's there. Take care guys, be careful," the god slayer added as he headed toward the secret passage, pulling his beloved along.

"Ok… Okay…" Lucy replied before she set her eyes on Gray, who sat alone on a rock. He seem to be deep in thought, it wasn't like him not to be settled with them. What was on the raven haired mage's mind?

'_Ur…' _Gray thought as memories were conjured up in his mind about the one called Ur.

* * *

Galuna island, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 14, 10:45 AM.

(With Natsu and Erza)

"Can you feel it?" Natsu asked as he and Erza went closer to the secret passage that the god slayer spotted.

"Amazing… How did you manage to notice it from that distance?" Erza asked as she looked at her beloved with a mixture of respect and adoration.

"Hey, I always was good at spotting hidden magic," Natsu smiled and kissed his bride. "Actually, I paid for it once…but still, skill is skill and magic is one of the four domains of my mother…" he added, referring to the case when he got his arm mutilated.

As they came closer Natsu examined the passage door. "I can't believe it, these idiots were hanging around here for months, may be even years, yet none of them were able to find this passage?" He noticed that no one had used this hidden door for quite some time.

"I don't think they had ever thought about it, they had their own business here," Erza replied with reason.

"Yeah, maybe…" Natsu said as he used his telekinetic power to open the heavy stone door, masked under the common rock. At the beginning of the passage were several torches. Natsu and Erza each took one then she breathed on the torches to ignite them.

"C'mon, c'mon! The ancient treasure may lie at the end of this cave, waiting for us!" Natsu urged his bride cheerfully as his eyes were glowing with excitement. Erza could not help but giggle as a certain warm feeling filled her heart. It was always like this with him: just mention an ancient legend or treasure and he'd forget about everything else and she loved that about his character.

"Okay, let's go!" She smiled, grabbing Natsu's hand as they both ran forward. They passed about one hundred meters deeper into the cave and rounded a corner, taking notice that the cave started to turn into an artificial corridor.

"It's a good sign…" Natsu noted. Artificial corridors in caves usually mean something interesting. "And this is not too good a sign." He noticed several skeletons lying on the path ahead. They made several steps forward and both were forced to jerk forward, barely dodging the set of spears that shot out from the floor.

"That was close…" Natsu said as he stood up.

"Looks like we found the reason these skeletons are here…" Erza stated. Those people had obviously not been fast enough.

"Yeah… I remember those cultists sent several dozens of their followers here, though reason was never stated. None of them have returned…" Natsu nodded with strange smile. Danger only makes things more interesting for him. Erza did not share his excitement about that, but there was no way back for her anyway.

They continued their way forward, watching their steps carefully this time…

* * *

(With Gray, Lucy and Sin)

**Flashback**

It was snowing from what Gray remembered and he was just around eight years old. He stood in the snow, freezing, shivering, and another boy standing behind him as he faced the back of Ur. Ur was a woman of average height with a slim, curvaceous figure. She had short dark purple hair that was kept at a shoulder length. Her clothes were light despite being in the snow, consisted of a grey jacket, jeans and a red tank top.

"Can you keep up, Gray," Ur asked upon seeing the shivering young boy, before turning around with a smile. "My training is tough, you know."

Gray, dressed in a tan coat with a blue shirt underneath, breathed heavily, his body feeling cold. But he looked up at her with determination in his eyes. "Yeah! I'll do whatever I have to!"

**End of flashback**

Gray had his hands together near his face, the fingers laced tightly, still thinking about the past. Lucy sat nearby, bored, putting her book on her lap and sighing loudly.

"I know I agreed to wait, but this is boring…" Lucy whined.

"Yeah…" Sin agreed.

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

Natsu and Erza had already managed to avoid five sets of traps, including huge rolling stones and crumbling floors. "Damn, I can't believe I let myself be dragged into another 'adventure' of yours…" Erza complained as her enthusiasm faded away. In the end they had absolutely no warranties that there was really something valuable at the end of this trap-filled corridor.

"Don't be a downer…" Natsu carelessly waved her off. He, on the other hand, was becoming more and more excited with each trap – in his opinion, the more traps that were on the path, the more valuable the items would be at the end. "Hey, look! There is a room there!" the god slayer exclaimed excitedly, pointing forward.

'_Oh… Looks like the experience with his arm actually did not teach him anything…'_ Erza thought as she rolled her eyes. _'There are so many normal boys around, why did I have to fall in love with this maniac…'_ she asked herself smiling as reasons for her love started to pop up in her head, so many reasons…

"Erza! Quit daydreaming – we are about to find a legendary treasure!" Natsu called for her impatiently.

'_I guess I'm the one hundred percent fool... but I am the happiest fool in the world…'_ Erza smiled as she ran toward her fiancé.

"Why are you smiling?" Natsu wondered, smiling back.

"No reason," she replied and kissed his cheek. "Okay, c'mon. Let's see it through."

They walked forward and entered a square room with walls about twelve meters in length and a stone pedestal in the middle of the room. A stone door at the opposite side of the room was closed. Near the door was a slot with a sign that read 'Drop the coin here'. On the pedestal were two bowls, covered with lids – one made of gold and one of silver. Also, the floor was littered with crushed bones…

"I don't like the looks of this…" Erza noted. "Okay, now what?"

"I think this is a conundrum…" Natsu answered as he came closer to the opposite door and examined the slot. "This slot is intended for a huge coin…" he concluded.

"And where would we get it?" the knight-mage wondered.

"No idea," Natsu replied as he started to examine the pedestal and the bowls. "Here are some symbols… Looks like an ancient language…"

"Can you read it?" Erza asked.

"Yes, I think I can... This one is similar to the divine language which my mother taught me…" Natsu said as he started to shake off the dust from the symbols. As soon as the god slayer touched the pedestal, the door behind them closed.

"What the?!" Erza exclaimed as she dashed to the door and tried to open it, but with no success. "Great, now what? I don't think we can use magic to open it – this whole cave might collapse on us…"

"Calm down, please, we are not going back anyway…" Natsu mumbled as he continued to stare at the symbols. "Strange… I think these two words, **bellum** and **immutáre**, they mean 'war' and 'change' respectively." He pointed at two words between the bowls. "This one, **véritas**, means 'truth'…" He pointed at the word under the gold bowl "And this one, **periurus**, it means 'false'," the god slayer pointed at the silver bowl.

"What's inside this bowls?" Erza asked as she reached out to take the lids from the bowls, her lack of experience as a treasure hunter was clearly noticeable now.

"No, wait!" Natsu exclaimed but it was too late – Erza removed the lids from both bowls only to see that they were empty. "This is exactly how I lost my arm, I too took what I should not have…" Natsu said sternly.

"Natsu, it's just two bowls," Erza replied. "Besides, three of our nakama are up there with three prisoners, did you forget about them? We should deal with this puzzle quickly."

"I know, but acting like that is too risky," Natsu retorted. "Since when did you became so impulsive?"

"We are in a locked stone room! As if it could get any worse…" Erza said but was cut off mid-sentence as the ceiling started to come down.

"What did you say?" Natsu asked sarcastically.

"Oops… My bad…" Erza admitted.

* * *

(With Gray, Lucy and Sin)

"I know!" the Celestial mage exclaimed, clapping her hands together with delight. Sin looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she pulled out one of her silver keys, one of them having a harp as a picture. Lucy then announced, "**Open! Gate of the Harp Constellation! Lyra!**" as a blue magic circle appeared from the key, as both pink smoke and yellow stars appeared, revealing another spirit in Lucy's possession who look excited to see her, her left hand waving fast.

She appeared to be a young girl with waist length strawberry blonde hair that curled at the ends. She wore a pink bonnet on top of her head, her cheeks were marked with round blush marks and she wore a long dress with hearts printed by her waist and leather shoes as well. She had small white wings and a large harp on her back.

"Long time, no see, Lucy!" she greeted her master happily.

"Hi Lyra!" Lucy greeted back smiling as the Harp spirit stood up to Lucy with a pout.

"Sheesh! You hardly ever call me!" she turned sideways from Lucy, still smiling, "I want to help lots more! You're such a meanie!"

"Meanie?" Lucy repeated, eyes crossed, "I'm only allowed to call you like three times a month."

Lyra turned quickly to her while Sin's eyes were closed while he was sitting on Lucy's shoulder, "Huh? Really?!"

"Another weirdo…" Lil Dragon commented.

"So, what should I sing for you today?!" Lyra asked excitedly…

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

Natsu dashed back to the pedestal and closed both bowls with their respective lids, but, as he suspected – nothing changed, the ceiling continued to descend.

"**Kongō no Yoroi: Za Naito!" **[The Knight: Adamantine Armor] Erza shouted, equipping a bulky, darkly colored armor. As she summoned her maximum defense armor the knight-mage raised her arms and created a light blue/green magic seal above her head. The ceiling's descending slowed down but it did not stop. "Natsu, whatever you're doing do it quick," she shouted, holding the ceiling with great efforts.

"Rushing brought us into this mess in the first place!" Natsu replied as he tried to focus on the puzzle.

"Natsu!" Erza urged him again as her knees began to bend.

"Hold on, I think I got it! 'War' and 'Change'… War changes… but my mother always tells me: **Non est nisi una véritas - nunquam permanenti bellum… **[There is only one truth – 'war never changes'] Then saying 'war changes' is false and I should open this bowl!" Natsu exclaimed as he removed the lid from the silver bowl. The ceiling stopped as Natsu found a large platinum coin inside the silver bowl.

Erza fell on her knees, panting, as ceiling began to ascend to it's normal height. "It's good…that you listened…to your mother…" she said, ex-equipping to her casual wear.

"Promise me to never do such a thing again!" Natsu demanded wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Promise me to never again put me into a room with a descending ceiling!" Erza retorted with her own condition. She knew that she screwed up with the bowls but her stubbornness did not let her admit it.

"I can't promise it, this is a treasure hunt…" Natsu stated.

"Then I won't make any promises either!" Erza said boldly and got a slap on her ass.

"Nasty girl…" Natsu mumbled. _'Damn, there are lots of quiet and appeasable girls around, why did I have to fall in love with this oddball?"_ he asked himself smiling as reasons for his love started to pop up in his head; there were so many of them… _'I guess I'm really insane... but I am the happiest insane person in the world…'_ Natsu thought as embraced his bride. "Okay, that was fun. C'mon, let's get out of here," they came to the door with the slot nearby and Natsu dropped the coin into the slot. A few moments later the door opened, letting them continue their adventure.

* * *

(With Gray, Lucy and Sin)

"Anything. I'll let you decide!" Lucy answered when Lyra asked what she should play for the next song.

"Okay! Then I'll just sing whatever! Yay!" Lyra responded happily, holding thumbs up with Lucy explaining to Sin, "Lyra's a really good singer!"

Lyra placed her hands to her blue harp, and began to strum a melody from the strings, letting out a calming sound that Sin actually did not like. Lucy fell asleep with a smile on her face as Gray too could hear Lyra's song.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Lyra's Song)

Some words are born…

Some words fade away...

Some words live on inside you…

When it seems you're about to come to a stop…

…they transform into courage…

(Song Interrupted)

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

After several more minutes of walking Natsu and Erza came to the large, no, huge cave. Here was an almost round, underground lake with a large island in the middle of it. Several shafts to the surface were made in the ceiling, and rays of sunlight come through them into the cave. All rays converged in the middle of the island, lighting up another pedestal… A pedestal with a large book on it!

"Look! There!" Natsu shouted excitedly as he saw the book. "C'mon!" He dashed forward, pulling Erza along. A dark blue magic seal appeared at his left arm as he started to freeze the lake's surface so he and Erza could walk to the underground island. "Strange… We're just supposed to take the book like this? Don't you think that our way here was too easy?" He asked for Erza's opinion.

"Easy?!" Erza exclaimed in disbelief. "You're saying that was easy?! We found a secret door, hidden by magic; we had to pass through half a dozen deadly traps and the only reason we were not squashed is thanks to my Adamantine Armor and your knowledge of divine language; and you are saying that was easy?"

"Compared to the value of the item we're about to get yes, it was quite easy," Natsu winked at the knight-mage. Though she was a powerful witch and senior mage she was still a newbie treasure hunter. "Okay, c'mon, let's take the book…" Natsu said as he took several steps forward but he was interrupted when he felt a raise of magic energy inside the cave. Suddenly, pedestal with the grimoire became surrounded by circle of violet flame. The same wall of violet flames surrounded the entire island, preventing the Fairy Tail mages from leaving it. "Okay… It looks like I rushed a little with the conclusion…"

"I hope we survive this because I want to kill you myself…" Erza growled as she and Natsu watched a cloud of violet mist start to gather near the center of the island. Several moments later the cloud started to shape into a large violet magic seal right under the ceiling of the cave.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Akuma Deliora)

Natsu grabbed his left arm. "Living magic…" Three seconds later the mist cloud disappeared with a flash of light and turned into a huge monster with the body of a lion and human-like head; a sphinx. The monster was at least 30 meters in length and 15 meters in height. His pelage was gray-colored and his eyes were glowing with a red light.

"Now are you satisfied?" Erza asked with some desperate irony.

"SO… ANOTHER HUMAN CAME TO SEEK AN ANCIENT KNOLEDGE…" the monster said in a loud, growling voice. "IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE SOMEONE MANAGED TO COME THIS FAR…" The sphinx stepped forward.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Natsu asked, examining the demon.

"YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME? YOU'RE A BRAVE ONE…" the demon looked at Natsu before shooting two laser-like beams from his eyes into the god slayer, but Natsu used his sword to reflect the beams aside. "AND STRONG… GOOD, I'LL ENJOY CONSUMING YOUR SOUL. I AM THE GREAT BEAST ZANAPHAR, 400 YEARS AGO I WAS CREATED BY THE LORD ZEREF. SEVERAL YEARS AFTER ANOTHER MAGE FOUND ME AND BOUND ME TO THIS PLACE WITH AN ORDER TO PREVENT ANYONE FROM ACQUIRING THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ANCIENTS…"

(End of Song)

"I'm afraid that your boss will be disappointed…" Natsu said with false resent. "No tattered cat can stop me from taking this book. Prepare to meet your maker, Zana… whoever you are." Natsu said with a smile, causing the demon to growl angrily.

"Do you really have to make him angry?" Erza asked but got no response as Natsu was focused on the monster, who, by the way, was a bit surprised to see Natsu's smile. It was the second time in his existence he had seen a human who was not afraid of him.

"Let battle rejoice!" Natsu shouted as his eyes blazed with crimson light.

* * *

(With Gray, Lucy and Sin)

(Resume song: Fairy Tail OST – Lyra's Song)

_Now, walk forth…_

_Because you have grown stronger since then…_

_Don't feel lost anymore…_

_Have faith in those words from then…_

(End of song)

Gray remained still as Lyra sang, the anger he was feeling starting to soften a bit. He started to stifle the tears starting to form in his eyes as this thoughts returned to Ur.

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Mahou Taisen)

The sphinx pounced at the two mages, causing them to spread out. Erza leaped aside as Natsu managed to slip under the demon's belly. **"Senjin no Saiken!"** [War God's Crushing Fist] Natsu slammed his energy-covered fist right into the monster's abdomen, causing the huge beast to roar in pain.

"**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [The Knight: Flight Armor] Erza ex-equipped into her flight armor dashed toward the demon. **"Sonikku Kurou!"** [Sonic Claw] The knight-mage quickly rushed along the beast's body, slashing him from every direction. The demon wailed from pain and slammed his claw into the ground, trying to hit Erza and causing a local earthquake.

"**Sentō Chūkaku!" **Natsu shouted as his body was cloaked in an aura of crimson light. With greatly increased speed the god slayer dashed to the demon's paw and used it to climb up to his back.

"GET OFF ME!" the demon yelled. The demon jumped, trying to throw the god slayer from his back but Natsu used that pulse to jump in the air. **"Senjin no Sōken!"** The demon wailed once more as Natsu hit the back of his head with his twin blades.

"**Raitei no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [The Knight: Lightning Empress Armor] Erza ex-equipped to her golden and light bluish armor as her appearance now resembled that of an armored Greek goddess of sort. Her head was adorned by a band with two ribbons on it and her hair styled in a long braid. She raised a long spear with a very large blade and a decorated circle resembling a shield attaching it to the shaft, which was adorned by a large ribbon. **"Raitoningu Bīmu!"** [Lightning Beam] Erza shouted, creating a light blue magic seal as a beam of lightning the same color of the seal was shot towards the beast from the tip of the spear.

However, this time the demon deflected Erza's attack. "GET OFF!" the beast bellowed and swung quickly at Erza with his claw. She used her spear to block the attack but it was not enough – the beast's blow was so strong that it sent her flying to the opposite side of the island head over heels.

(End of Song)

As Erza's body's stopped rolling two laser-like beams were shot from demon's eyes into her, causing an explosion. "Erza!" Natsu shouted. He underestimated the amount of magic power that she spent holding the ceiling in the room with the puzzle. **"Senjin no Shōkya!"** [War God's Shock Kick] Natsu slammed his leg into the demon's back and jumped down with intentions on helping Erza but the beast recovered from his attack pretty quickly and hit Natsu with his claw from above, pressing the god slayer to the ground.

"IT'S USELESS TO CALL HER, SHE IS NO MORE. AND SOON YOU'LL JOIN HER IN DEATH!" the enraged demon yelled, pressing his claw to the ground harder with intentions to crush Natsu.

"No more? Are you kidding me?" Natsu asked as he started to slowly lift up demon's claw by his bare hands, surprising the beast by his strength. "She's withstood much harsher beatings," Natsu added as he slowly stood up and threw shocked demon's claw away. **"Senjin no Sentsui!"** [War God's Warhammer] Huge crimson energy hammer appeared in his hand and Natsu slammed it right into beast's face, forcing him to fall on his side.

"Erza, are you hear me?" Natsu called for his fiancé.

"Yeah, I'm all right… I think…" She answered standing up and checking that all of her limbs are at their proper places.

"YOU! YOU ARE NOT HUMAN! WHO ARE YOU?!" the demon wailed. He clearly did not expected such strength from a human.

"Well, you told us who you were so I guess I shall return the favor. I am Natsu Dragneel, son of supreme war goddess Morrigan, and mage of a guild named Fairy Tail," Natsu said with unmasked pride as he raised his hands into the air. "Now, it's time to end this…"

The demon growled, shaking the entire cave and pounced on Natsu as the god slayer cast his spell: **"Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Manjinyō!"** [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Ten Thousand Blades Dance]. He created multiple crimson energy blades which began to swirl around the demon, tearing off his flesh. Several seconds later all of the blades exploded, destroying the beast's body.

* * *

(With Gray, Lucy and Sin)

Gray started to cry silently. This caught everyone's attention as the music stopped. The blonde girl asked in a very concerned way, "Wha…? Gray?"

"Yeah? What?" he replied rudely.

"You were crying…" Sin pointed out.

"Lyra is good at singing about what people are feeling, but…" Lucy said.

Gray's face was back to the dark, angry expression it was before, his teeth clenched once more as he spat darkly, "I was not!"

Lucy looked at Lyra, deciding to break the tension with, "Sing something happier, Lyra!"

"Huh?!" the harp spirit questioned, "You should have said so!"

"Now that I think about it, be quiet!" Gray retorted harshly. "What if someone shows up?!"

"I'll go check the prisoners," Sin announced.

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

The violet flames around the book and the island's border vanished.

"Damn… Stupid demon… Look what he has done to my coat!" Natsu complained to his beloved, showing her the torn off left sleeve.

"Oh, he tore off your sleeve…" Erza replied with false compassion, "...too bad he did not tear off your head! Look what he had done to me!" Erza growled angrily, she was quite worn out and got several bruises and scratches.

"Relax sweetheart, I'm sure it was worth it," Natsu carelessly waved her off.

"It better be, Natsu…" She replied as they began to carefully approach to the pedestal where the book sat.

"Wait a second… I feel some strange magic from this book…" Natsu said but Erza did not stop. "Erza?" Natsu called for her but she ignored him and continued to walk forward. "Hey Erza, wait!" Natsu exclaimed as he caught up with her. He looked into her face only to see a pupil-less eyes. She looked like she was in some sort of trance. "Erza stop, it could be dangerous!" Natsu tried to stop her but she pushed him away and placed her palm on the book. Immediately, book emitted a shockwave that threw both mages away for several meters.

"Huh?" Erza said as she looked around in a daze, seemingly having come to her senses.

"Erza?! What you have done?" Natsu asked with widened eyes.

"I… I'm… I'm sorry, Natsu… I could not control my body… I just felt an immense need to touch the book…" Erza explained, she herself was shocked too. "Oh no…"

The book started to glow with a bright, blue-white light, that become brighter each second. At last, when the light faded with bright flash, it revealed an apparition of enormous size… Natsu and Erza gasped as they realized what exactly they were staring at.

It was a huge, no, gigantic dragon whose bodily majority is covered with platinum, shining scales. His lower body, specifically his belly, the inner portions of his long tail, and legs, were covered by gold scales. His back has numerous golden spikes, reaching down from the back to the end of his tail. The dragon also had a triangular head with platinum horns, a pair of large, round eyes which were glowing with white light and a pair of sharp horns pointing upwards just above his nose. The dragon also sported very sharp canine teeth, and had claws with long, sharp, golden claws. The dragon's large bony wings resemble a bat's, with rippled tips and smooth edges and a sharp claws at the end of each wing. Additionally, dragon had four hind legs.

Both Natsu and Erza looked at dragon in awe. It was probably the most fearsome and most beautiful creature that either of them had seen in their entire lives.

"Wha… What is it…?" Erza stuttered, instinctively nestling closer to Natsu.

"Easy, easy my dear – it's not alive, it is just a spirit," Natsu calmed down his fiancé. "A big one…" Natsu had read many legends about dragons and some of them mentioned average dragon's size. This one definitely was larger than 'average'.

"GREETINGS, YOUNG PEOPLE," the dragon spoke with a loud, low but definitely female's voice. "DON'T BE AFRAID, I'LL NOT HARM YOU. I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOR A LONG TIME…"

"You were waiting for us?" Natsu wondered. "Really?"

"I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THE ONE WHO IS SMART ENOUGH TO FIND HIS WAY HERE, STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEAT THIS DISGUSTING FIEND… AND FOR THE ONE WHO IS CARRYING THE PART OF MY OWN SOUL INSIDE HIS, OR HER, HEART," Dragon said as she looked at Erza. "MY NAME IS ANDROMEDA, AND YES, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU…"

Natsu's eyes widened as he heard dragon's name. "You are _the_ Andromeda?! For real?!"

"You… You know about her?" Erza stuttered a little.

"Are you kidding? Though I don't like the ending, it is still one of my favorite legends! …**Andromeda the Starbinder** – the legendary dragon queen! The star dragon!" Natsu explained in rapture.

"YOUR KNOWLEDGE IS ADMIRABLE, YOUNG MAN, BUT MY TIME IS SHORT, SO PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME. 400 YEARS AGO I WAS KILLED. AN EVIL DRAGON, WITH THE HELP OF ZEREF'S DEMONS DEFEATED ME IN BATTLE AND USURPED THE TITLE OF THE DRAGON LORD. BUT I CAN'T REST IN PEACE WHILE HE LIVES, I CAN'T SLEEP WHILE SUCH AN EVIL EXISTS. SO I WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE IN WHOM I CAN ENTRUST MY KNOWLEDGE AND MY REMAINING POWERS, TO FINISH THAT I STARTED. YOUR SOUL IS BRAVE AND YOU ALREADY CARRY A PART OF ME INSIDE YOUR HEART… CAN YOU FINISH THIS 400 YEAR LONG WAR AND LET ME REST IN PEACE AT LAST, ERZA SCARLET?" Andromeda asked, looking into Erza's face.

"Yes, I can and I will!" Erza answered immediately, her voice completely determined.

Natsu's eyes widened in surprise as he heard the answer of his fiancé. "Erza? Wait a moment Mrs. Dragon, let me talk with her a little." Natsu addressed the dragon before turning to Titania. "Darling, do you understand what exactly she wants you to do? She wants you to defeat a dragon that she was unable to defeat herself. And if the legend is correct – she wants you to defeat a dragon whose name could make even my mother nervous!"

"I know, Natsu, but I hear her voice…not the voice of this spirit but the voice of her very soul that resides inside the lacrima, inside my heart. Her wish to destroy the evil is so strong and so sincere that I just can't refuse…" Erza looked straight into his eyes. "Please, Natsu, let me do this…"

'_What have I done…'_ Natsu thought as he sighed deeply… Clearly, Erza's mind is affected by the lacrima inside her. But…could he actually refuse? _Should_ he refuse? Fate is one of his mother's domains… Maybe they were destined to come here… Moreover, knowledge and power is the very reason they came to this place and now a legendary dragon queen offered them just that… In the end, he nodded to Erza. _'Mother, I'm going to trust fate…'_

"Thank you…" she whispered and kissed his lips before addressing the dragon, "I'll do it!"

"I THANK YOU… BUT BEFORE WE PROCEED I HAVE TO ASK FOR ONE MORE THING. THERE ARE MORE ENEMIES IN THIS WORLD AND SHE WILL NEED SOMEONE TO PROTECT HER…" Andromeda looked to Natsu "…AND I'M ASKING YOU, NATSU DRAGNEEL, SON OF MORRIGAN, WILL YOU PROMISE TO PROTECT THIS GIRL?"

"You don't need to ask me, I already made the promise. No matter what happens or who comes against us – human, demon, dragon or god – I will protect her until my last breath," Natsu stated, pressing Erza to himself.

"THEN I'M LEAVING THE REST TO YOU TWO," the dragon said as her image started to turn into mist. Suddenly Erza's body started to glow as it was lifted into the air and streams of glowing mist rushed into her body. Light engulfed her body as it became brighter each second. Finally, when the bright light disappeared Erza was on her knees with a huge book in her hands.

"Auuu!" Erza cried and dropped the book on the ground as she grabbed her head with her hands.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked worriedly.

"It's… ouch… information… to many of it… it feels like…" Erza answered through pain, she still wore her Lightning Empress armor.

"…like someone gave you the knowledge of a thousand books and also hit your head with each book," Natsu finished her phrase.

"Yes… something like that…" the knight-mage confirmed with a pained smile.

"Well, now you know what I felt when I acquired my **Kuroi Geijutsu** [Black Arts]…" Natsu smiled as he lifted up the grimoire and started to read it, because he had been through this he knew it was better to not touch her right then.

It took about twenty minutes for the knight-mage to process the information. "Oh my lord… what have I done?!" Erza asked herself in slight panic. It seems her mind became clear and now she completely understood what exactly happened. The dragon queen's soul now sleeps inside her and she made an… _exigeánt_ promise, to say the least.

"I warned you…" Natsu shrugged.

"You! It is all your doing – 'let's implant the lacrima into your body' 'I'll make you a dragon slayer' 'let's go to the cursed island to find an ancient book.' I hope you're satisfied now?" Erza growled as she came closer to Natsu.

"Hey, easy with that. You asked for my approval just a few minutes ago! I agreed and now you're displeased? What shall I do to make you happy?" Natsu asked with false resent.

"**Seiryū no Shōgeki!"** [Star Dragon's Shock Blow] Erza shouted and slammed her magic-covered fist right between Natsu's eyes, sending him flying head over heels for about tens meters. "Now I'm happy!" She really did feel much better.

"Okay… I think I deserved this…" Natsu admitted as he slowly stood up, rubbing his forehead, it's good Erza did not hit him with full force. "But tell me… how did you managed to use your new magic without even looking into the book?"

"She gave me some of her knowledge," Erza answered simply. "Now I know dragon's language and I have access to four basic spells, despite not yet understanding how exactly they work. I think I'll be able to recover more of her memories in the future… And, by the way, I'm still angry at you," she added with narrowed eyes. "What did you find?" she asked since Natsu stared into the book for twenty minutes instead of trying to comfort his fiancé.

"Well, Andromeda was a **Seiryū** [Star Dragon], which means that you are **Sei no Metsuryū Madōshi** [Star Dragon Slayer]. Now I understand why you chocked each time when you tried to consume flames – it was just too cold for you…" As he explained Erza recalled her feelings. It really felt like she was trying to eat an ice cream with soup spoon. "According to my mom, the temperature of a star's surface is at least four times higher than temperature of common flames, and there are much hotter stars, too. Stars composed of the element which my mother called 'ion plasma'; your spells will utilize the incinerating light of stars!" Natsu finished his explanation and embraced his beloved.

"Okay… but I'm still angry," Erza said, making Natsu kiss her earlobe. "Still angry…" she continued to be capricious as Natsu's lips traveled along her neck to her mouth until their lips merged in an extremely passionate kiss but few second later Natsu noticed that some paper dropped out the book when Erza struck him.

"Huh? What's this?" He broke the kiss and picked up the paper, making Erza sigh deeply.

'_He's incorrigible… Just live with it…'_ Erza's inner voice spoke out.

Natsu's eyes widened in rapture when he read the paper to the end, it was not the page from the book. "Erza, look! This is about another relic from the past!"

"Not again…" she said but Natsu ignored her lack of enthusiasm.

"It seems that when Andromeda was slain an ancient **Metsuryū Madōshi** [Dragon Slayer], who was loyal to a dragon queen, found her body. He not only arranged a proper burial but also gathered some of her remaining blood and took one of her teeth. Then he found the best artesian weaponsmith in the world and got him to make a sword! It's hilt was made from the dragon queen's tooth and its adamantine blade was sanctified with her blood! The sword is called '**Astrum Eclipsis**' [Star Eclipse] and it should be as powerful and durable as my '**Caelestis Florere**'! [Heavenly Blossom] Erza, we have to find it – this is the perfect replacement to the sword that I destroyed nine month ago during our battle!"

"No way! I will not let you to drag me into another suicidal adventure!" Erza exclaimed indignantly, despite knowing perfectly that her words would change nothing. He _will_ go to find this relic and she can't let him to go alone.

"We're going to find this sword as soon as we finish here," Natsu stated as he ignored Erza's words.

"Dragon queen… Star Binder… Please, preserve me…" Erza pleaded, pressing the book to herself as Natsu picked her up bride-style and moved toward the cave's exit.

* * *

Galuna island, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 14, 4:00 PM.

(With Gray, Lucy and Sin)

Gray was still sitting on the rock, deep inside his memories, Lucy slept nearby and Sin was talking to Lyra. The door to the secret passage opened and Natsu and Erza appeared from the hidden cave.

"What happened to you two?" Sin asked as he examined the pair and noticed their worn-out look.

"Nothing special, we just fought with another one of Zeref's demons down there," Natsu answered casually, shocking both Gray and Sin.

"What!? Another one of Zeref's demons!?" Gray growled as he moved his gaze from Natsu to Deliora.

"What's wrong with this island?" Sin wondered.

"Don't worry Gray, that demon had no connection with Deliora at all, except their maker," Erza assured him.

"By the way, we found the book…" Natsu added but Gray showed no interest in it.

"Good for you…" he grumbled and turned back to Deliora.

Erza wanted to say something but Natsu shook his head, asking her to just leave him alone. "How are our prisoners?" God slayer asked, looking at Sin.

"Still out, or maybe they are just sleeping now. Shall I try to wake them up?" Sin replied.

"Later. We need some rest, too. Also Gray could be right – maybe first we have to wait for the night and watch what will happen when the moon comes out," Natsu decided as he and Erza sat near sleeping Lucy and started to examine their grimoire.

"As you wish" Sin shrugged and returned to stellar spirit.

* * *

Galuna island, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 14, 8:40 PM.

"Damn, I've never seen such complex formulas…" Erza noted as she flipped through the book's pages and read some of the spell descriptions. She ex-equipped to her casual clothes and joined Natsu in examining the book. "They are much more complex than that of Flame spells…"

"Yeah, these spells are almost as complex as my own war god slayer's spells. It is because of the dual nature of your element – it is extremely hot flames and starlight at the same time. You have to control two very unstable elements at once… but there is a good side, too – there is almost no protection from such complex attacks." Natsu outlined his opinion. "Besides, you already know four spell, do not you?"

"Yes, but this is the most basic spells. Besides, I know _what_ I should do to use them, but I have no idea _why _I should do it… I'm kind of doing them by using my spinal cord instead of brain… Learning this magic properly will require some time…" Erza noted as she tried to imagine a plan for her further training.

"Don't worry, you already know the base rules of **Metsuryū Mahō** [Dragon Slayer Magic], so we do not have to start from the very beginning. Moreover, you may be able to recover more of Andromeda's memories. And besides…" Natsu scratched his head "…some of these spells strongly resemble my own for some reason, so I'll be able to help you with them."

"My new magic resembles your own?" Erza asked.

"Yes, I think it's because my element has a dual nature too," Natsu speculated.

"Wait, you told me that this crimson energy, which your spells utilizes, is an essence of aggression," Erza replied.

"No, I told you it's _basically_ an essence of aggression, but this is not the element. My magic is a force field manipulation to control the antimatter by channeling powerful emotions, so basically it's an 'aggression' but in elementary representation it is 'force' and 'antimatter'." Natsu explained. "You see, when I charge the trans-warp force field I can…" He was unable to continue his speech as Erza closed his mouth with her palm.

"Natsu, I already feel like a complete fool so please, focus on the book," she said smiling warmly. Natsu apparently forgot that, despite Erza being as clever as he is, she did not have a goddess-mother to teach her the quantum physics.

"Sorry..." Natsu kissed her cheek. "Nonetheless, I found two formulas in this book that I can use to improve my own spells _and_ even improve these formulas using my own knowledge, as soon as we manage to study them properly… what?" Natsu noticed that Erza's smile became quite playful as she looked at him.

"You are so educated… it's really sexy…" She answered, licking her lips "…how do you feel about returning into that secret cave for a while?" Erza asked playfully, it was absolutely clear what she want to do using the privacy of the cave… However, these plans could not come true.

"What is it?" Gray asked as the sound of rumbling was coming from above. Lucy yawned, rubbing her eyes as the stellar mage asked, "What's that sound?"

"It is already night?" Natsu asked. He had lost track of time while studying the grimoire.

Gray looked around as a purple magic seal appeared from the ceiling, lighting the cave with shining light as it started to grow bigger, causing a unison reaction from Natsu, Erza, and Lucy. "There's light…" were the girls' word as Natsu finished with, "…coming from the ceiling…"

"Purple light… Is it the moonlight?!" Gray asked. Sin stood near him with a confused expression.

"What is this? What's going on?" the skeletal dragon was very surprised.

Light started to pour over the ice on Deliora, making even the ice glow purple from just the light the magic circle emitted.

"It's shining on Deliora!" Gray realized.

"It does not seem like a coincidence!" Natsu admitted.

"Let's go! Find the source of the light!" Erza ordered to the group.

"Wait, what about the prisoners?" Sin asked.

"Leave them, I do not think we need them anymore…" Gray answered as he dashed to the cave's exit where their enemies came in.

A few minutes later they were back in the temple's top floor to find a large magic circle, right under the temple's roof as Gray commented, "There was a magic circle in the middle of the ruins?!"

"Higher up!" Natsu said as he and his team took off to get to the top of the temple to see what was going on. Hurrying up more stairs, the group finally exited the temple and was now outside. They gasped to find a group of hooded people all formed in a circle chanting as the moonlight shined down to the ground. The five got closer as Lucy asked, "What is that?!"

From their viewpoint, they were chanting and it seems they were concentrating the moonlight to the two magic circles they found. What was their angle, what was their involvement with the light found in the cave? As they chanted on, more magic circles appeared over one another like layers as it reached to the sky, channeling the moon light into the ground.

"The moon…" Gray realized.

"These guys really are collecting the moon's light?" Sin asked.

"And they're shining it on Deliora…" Lucy added. "But what for?!"

"It's a spell in Belianese… The Moon Drip!" a girl's voice answered from beside them. Lucy panicked looking at her right, but found Lyra kneeled with them.

"You're still here?!" Lucy asked, surprised the harp spirit didn't return to the Celestial spirit world already. Lyra had her eyes fixed on the ceremony that was taking place.

"Ah. So that's what's going on." Lyra said, gaining an attention from the whole team.

"What? What do you mean?" Lucy asked with widened eyes.

"These guys are trying to use Moon Drip to resurrect that underground demon!" Lyra explained.

"Is that possible?" Natsu wondered.

Gray responded, his dark eyes flared with anger, "That's impossible! Iced Shell is unmeltable!"

"Moon Drip can melt it," the harp spirit replied with Lucy looking at her. "Focused moon energy can break any spell."

"Why they are doing this?!" Gray gritted his teeth in anger. "They have no idea how horrific Deliora is!"

"I think the Moon Drip is the cause of the phenomenon the islanders believe is a curse." Lucy suggested. "Concentrated moon energy can contaminate people's bodies too. That's how powerful this magic is."

Natsu just silently shook his head in disagreement.

"Look!" Lucy called. "Someone's here!"

Stepping into the area was an unknown young man of average height with a muscular and toned body; he wore a metal boots, blue-toned clothes and an ornamental helmet obscuring most of his face.

The strange person started to walk to the ceremony of moonlight being gathered directly above Deliora. The young man's metal boots clang as he step. He came closer to the group of hooded people and simply stood like this for about five minutes before another person appeared at the top of the pyramid. A silver-haired boy, about 18 years old, with dark grayish blue-purple eyes, dressed in white pants, black, gold trimmed, vest and brown boots, with white scarf, decorated with scale-like patterns, around his neck. He was toting three tied-up people behind himself.

"What happened?" the masked guy asked with slight concern in his voice.

"No idea," the silver-haired boy answered, "But judging by their looks I can say that someone kicked their asses…" His tone made it clear that he had little respect for the three or the masked guy.

"Reitei [Sub-zero emperor], sir, please untie us…" Toby whined piteously.

"Couldn't you at least untie them?" Reitei asked indignantly as he pulled out the knife and sliced the ropes that bound his subordinates. "What happened to you three? Who did this?"

"Well…"

"We…"

"It's sad, Reitei-sama… I cannot express my love like this…"

"I guess someone knocked them out so fast that they did not even understand what happened," the silver-haired guy said with a smirk.

"We have intruders?" Leon asked.

"So, he is the Reitei…" Gray mumbled

"Looks like it, but I wonder why he's called that?" Erza asked curiously.

"He sure looks high and mighty, especially with that weird mask!" Lucy observed eyeing the unknown man's appearance as little boney dragon pointed at the silver-haired boy.

"And who is this guy? They do not seem too friendly toward each other to me…" Sin asked.

The Reitei came closer to the spot where team Natsu was hiding, so they could hear him better. He spoke, his tone appeared to be fitting his appearance, "Is Deliora's revival still incomplete?" he asked Sherry.

"From the look of it, it will be today or tomorrow…" Sherry replied.

"At long last…" said the Reitei, causing Gray to gasp in shock at the sound of that voice, "As for the intruders… I've come too far things to be interfered with now. "

"That voice… No… It can't be…!" Gray stuttered in shock.

"Yes. The only people on this island are in the village in the outskirts," Sherry replied to him.

"You are a foolish girl Sherry," the silver-haired boy said, causing her to growl in anger. "I saw those villagers, none of them can use magic. As for our intruders' intentions you can ask them yourself – they are hiding right behind that cobblestone." He pointed at the large stone where Natsu's team were hiding. Furthering the hide-and-seek game was useless, so Natsu stood up, as did Erza. "Sorry guys, but I overheard your voices," the silver-haired boy winked to them.

"He! It is he who attacked us earlier, Reitei-sama!" Sherry screamed, pointing at Natsu.

"Damn, you are so screechy…" Natsu said, covering his ears.

'_No kidding'_ Haru mentally agreed.

"Oh no…" Lucy muttered desperately.

"What should I do? Sing?" Lyra asked excitedly.

"You can go back." Lucy replied vein throbbing on her head.

"Aww, you're no fun!" Lyra said still smiling happy as she disappears with a cloud of pink smoke.

"Those emblems! They're from Fairy Tail!" Sherry realized as she noticed Natsu and Erza's emblems.

"I see, so the people from the village requested a guild save them," Yuka said.

Suddenly Gray ran pass the slayers, his eyes were focused on the masked man. With his hand charged with ice magic, Gray demanded furiously, "Stop your stupid ceremony or whatever this instant!" and slammed his hands to the ground, creating a geyser of ice that sent the three Reitei's subordinates back, but the masked emperor jumped into the air as did the silver-haired boy. The masked Emperor then formed a light blue magic circle into his hand as many ice spikes appeared on the ground. Two flows of ice clashed to form an even bigger geyser of ice. As the ice shattered, Lucy gasped as she realized, "He uses ice too?!"

Gray stared at the masked emperor teeth clenched in anger as the emperor stared back at him, the aftermath of his last attack blowing away. Gray step back and growled in anger, "Lyon!"

Natsu and Erza looked at Gray in surprise, as well as Haru who looked in surprise at Lyon… How did Gray know who he was? Lucy was shocked a bit, "Lyon?" she repeated.

"You bastard… Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Gray growled in anger.

The Reitei, or Lyon as Gray had called him, chuckled, "How long has it been, Gray?"

"What is the meaning of this?!" Gray demanded.

"To think that you were one of the mages the villagers called here…" Lyon replied coolly, "Did you come here knowingly? Or it is just a coincidence?" He added before continuing on, "Not that it makes any difference…"

"So I'm guessing you two know each other…" Haru mumbled.

"Do not interfere, I'll deal with him myself!" Lyon ordered.

"Never had such intentions," Haru replied "I'm more interested in these two. **Karyū no Hōkō!**" [Fire Dragon's Roar] A stream of orange flames burst from Haru's mouth toward Natsu and Erza, creating a huge fireball.

"**Seiryū no Hōkō!"** [Star Dragon's Roar] Erza released her own roar in the form of a concentrated, destructive blast of plasma. The two spells clashed, creating a powerful blastwave that shook the entire pyramid. [A/N: Erza's roar is similar to Laxus's thunder dragon roar]

"Haru!" a blue winged cat appeared from the above. "What happened?"

"Happy?! Did you see it?! The girl's spell, it was the same type as mine!" Haru said with wide eyes. "She is a **Metsuryū Madōshi** too!"

"Did you notice his spell, Natsu?" Erza asked, she too was slightly concerned.

"Yes, but let's discuss it later, can you handle him for now? I'm sick and tired of this stupid ritual," Natsu asked his bride as he looked at the hooded people who were performing the moon drip ceremony.

"You can't stop the ritual!" Lyon said as he heard Natsu's voice.

"**Senjin no Dogō!"** Natsu breathed out a massive crimson energy stream towards the rite performers in the form of a large vortex. The spell landed right into the middle of the circle of hooded people and produced a massive explosion, knocking most of them out. The magic circles disappeared and a beam of moonlight faded away. "Can't stop the ritual you said? But I think I did just that." Natsu smirked.

"Another one?!" Haru gasped in shock as he saw Natsu breathing magic from his mouth too.

"Haru! They want to interrupt the ritual, get rid of them!" Lyon yelled angrily as he saw his ritual performers were blown away.

"Happy!" Haru shouted as the blue winged cat grabbed him and lifted him in the air as the silver haired boy began to cast a spell:

"_With a flame on the right hand..._

_and a flame on the left hand..._

_When you combine the flames together..._

**Karyū no Kōen!** [Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame]"

Haru hurled a huge fireball at Natsu and Erza, but they were ready to defend themselves.

"**Kongō no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** Once again Erza equipped her adamantine armor and shouted, **"Kongō no Shōheki!"** [Adamantine Barrier] She combined her two shields, creating a large, aqua green, magic barrier to protect Natsu and herself from Haru's spell. The fireball collided with the barrier, which withstood the power of the spell as Natsu prepared to counter attack. Suddenly, the floor under Natsu and Erza crumbled without any noticeable reason. Deprived from the reliance under her feet Erza became unable to support her defensive spell and both she and Natsu were thrown off from the pyramid by the blastwave from Haru's huge fireball. Two slayers were rolling the pyramid's wall head over heels, screaming curses toward Haru and the old unreliable building.

"Okay, now get rid of the girl too," Lyon pointed at Lucy as he continued his struggle with Gray.

"Fuck off, Lyon!" Haru answered, surprising Gray, Lucy and Sin. "I'm not your subordinate and I don't care about your orders. Happy, we're going home!" he said to his companion.

"Aye!" the blue winged cat answered as he turned around, carrying Haru somewhere into the jungle.

"You, damn insolent whelp…" Lyon growled as he turned to his subordinates. "Sherry, Yuka, Toby – go and eradicate the village, now!"

"What!? Why!? The villagers have nothing to do with this this!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Those who stand in the way… They're the enemies. You're here because of them!" Reitei shouted angrily.

"Yes, sir!" said the three subordinates as they took to the task Lyon requested them to do.

"Sin! Take Lucy out of here!" Gray ordered.

"Got it!" Sin understood Gray's reason as he took hold of Lucy's blouse as they soared into the air.

"Wait…!" Lucy called to skeletal dragon.

Back on the ground, Gray sent out ice shards at his former friend. Lyon held his right hand out, conjuring a shield in front of him. Unlike the one Gray makes, it was different and looked more like how a shield should look like. The shield stops Gray's attack, much to The Fairy Tail Ice mage's dislike.

Up in the air as they headed back to the village, Lucy asked, "Sin! You're going to abandon Gray?!"

"Gray can handle it, but he wants us to protect the village!" Sin explained.

Lucy gasped, understanding what Sin was saying. Natsu and Erza's location is unknown and if Gray's battle against Lyon takes a long time, then no one would stop his subordinates from harming the village. It was up to them to protect everyone in there.

"Okay, I understood, let's go!" Lucy replied.

"So you created an opening for that blonde girl and this weird thing to escape…" he smiled adding, "You're pretty clever, after all… Nevertheless, it does not matter. I doubt those two can stop Sherry and the others."

"I wouldn't underestimate Fairy Tail mages if I were you!" Gray said angrily, now facing Lyon all alone. "And could you quit acting like you're my senior, Lyon?!" the Ice mage added, taking one step forward, "You're not Ur's student anymore!"

"Same goes for you, Gray," Lyon replied before reaching for his mask to remove it, revealing his face. He revealed bluish silver hair, most of which was spiked to jut upwards on top of his head, except for some that was kept pointing down and partially covering the upper left part of his face. Lyon's eyes were slanted, with dark round pupils and surrounded by similarly dark lines. He has small, linear, dark eyebrows. On his left ear he donned a small, light-colored earring, which takes the shape of a stylized snowflake, "Because Ur is no longer of this world."

"She sacrificed her life to seal Deliora away!" Gray yelled at the former pupil of Ur. "You're trying to destroy her legacy!"

"Don't fool your own memory…" Lyon replied coldly, "You killed Ur."

Gray was shocked by Lyon's harsh words. He thinks…he killed Ur? No, that wasn't true, he didn't killed her. Lyon continued on, his eyes narrowed, "I'm amazed you have the nerve to live, Gray."

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza, underneath the temple)

"Damn! I just hate these ramshackle buildings!" Natsu shouted angrily as he turned hotly back at the temple where the moon drip ceremony was taking place and the battle between the two ice mages was commencing.

"Natsu, look!" Erza pointed in the sky. She noticed Sin who was carrying Lucy toward the village. "Something's going on! Why is he carrying her away?"

"No idea, we have to return to the top of the pyramid, I think Gray's still there, we have to learn what's happening!" Natsu said, facing the moon temple.

"Okay, c'mon!" Erza agreed and they ran to building's entrance.

* * *

Galuna island, Shack in the jungle, Year X784, July 14, 11:45 PM.

On the other side of the island (not too far from the village, actually) a small shack was hidden in the trees. A young **Ka no Metsuryū Madōshi** [Fire Dragon Slayer] lived here, far from the moon temple and Lyon's lackeys. "Haru, why did you decided to return here? Aren't you afraid that those mages may really spoil the ritual?" the blue cat asked, looking at his partner, who seemed a bit distracted.

"Hmm? Sorry Happy, I'm a little distracted… I can't forget about those two… Happy, their magic was just like mine – I saw them both breathing magic from their mouths! I have to speak with them… or at least one of them…" Haru answered rubbing his forehead.

"You think they would want to speak with you?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, you right, we are the enemies right now… And they are not weaklings – I doubt I'll be able to deal with both of them at once to force them into conversation… Damn, I have to find a way…" Haru mumbled to himself.

* * *

_Spell List:_

**Sentō Chūkaku** – Combat Core

**Senjin no Ukyogun** – War God's Raven Flock

**Senjin no Sōken** – War God's Twin Blades

**Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

**Senjin no Shōkya** – War God's Shock Kick

**Senjin no Sentsui** – War God's Warhammer

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Manjinyō** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Ten Thousand Blades Dance

**Kuroi Geijutsu** – Black Arts

**Seiryū no Shōgeki** – Star Dragon's Shock Blow

**Seiryū no Hōkō** – Star Dragon's Roar

**Kongō no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Adamantine Armor

**Kongō no Shōheki** – Adamantine Barrier

**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Flight Armor

**Sonikku Kurou** – Sonic Claw

**Raitei no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Lightning Empress Armor

**Raitoningu Bīmu** – Lightning Beam

**Karyū no Hōkō** – Fire Dragon's Roar

**Karyū no Kōen** – Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame (Lit. – Gleaming Flame)

**Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo** – Ice Make: Shield

**Zettai Tōketsu: Aisu no Sheru** – The Absolute Freezing: Iced Shell

* * *

Well, that's it people. Chapter ten has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW!**_ See you in the next chapter – **Violence Solves Everything, Part I.**


	11. Violence Solves Everything, Part I

**Okay people, I'm very sorry for this – just now I tried to re-upload the chapter with a bit improved grammar, but accidentally I'm just deleted it, so now, when it was re-uploaded it looks like new but it is actually not. However, to compensate your loss of time I'm expanded this chapter with two guild cards and some magic description, see the omake below. Again, I'm sorry.**

* * *

**Omake – guild cards and magic:**

Guild card № **3/781**

Name: **Natsu Dragneel**

Nickname: **The Ravager**

Birthdate: **7.10.X766** (17 years old)

**Family:** Morrigan, foster(?) mother, real parents unknown. Erza Scarlet, fiancé.

Magic: **Sen no Metsujin Mahō** (War God Slayer Magic), **Kuroi Geijutsu** (Black Arts)

**Likes:** magic and magical artifacts, legends, luxury stuff.

**Dislikes:** cheap stuff, weak and/or stupid people.

**Magic description:** his primary magic is very complex – he channels powerful emotions to create an antimatter, which he can control through warp fields. Matter-antimatter reaction creates high-energy explosions, which is highly effective against any enemy. Also, the complex nature of Natsu's magic makes anti-magic measures much less effective against his advanced spells. Due to some incident four years ago Natsu got an ability to use Black Arts, but he lost half of his left arm, the remaining fleshless bones can move only thanks to living magic.

**General description:** Also known as 'The Unforgiven', Natsu is Fairy Tail's most destructive member. Raised by Morrigan, the supreme war goddess, he is proud and quite overbearing, but, despite this, Natsu really cares about the other guild members as he swore to protect his guild at all cost. However, the fact that he cares about other guild members does not mean that he respects them, because Natsu only respects people whose strength can challenge his own.

Natsu's early years were hard, Morrigan was readying him for battles from the very beginning, and she was quite intolerant to failures. Because of it, Natsu still keeps himself slightly aloof from the other guild members, since they'll never be able to understand his motives; however, a certain scarlet-haired girl deserved the access to his soul. Moreover, after Natsu started dating Erza, he became less obsessed with money as he at last understood the meaning of the phrase 'money doesn't bring happiness', Erza's unique smile does.

**Random facts about Natsu:** Many of the books in his library exist only in exemplar, which Natsu literally gathered page by page during his journeys. His favorite book series is a heroic poem 'The tales of Thor'. And, by the way, despite huge amount of collateral damage that Natsu made during his career, he still managed to earn enough money to became one of twenty richest mages in Fiore.

**Notable quote:** 'Only the dead have nothing to lose, those who live have at least their lives.'

…

Guild card № **5/776**

Name: **Erza Scarlet**

Nickname: **The Titania**

Birthdate: **4.04.X765** (19 years old)

**Family:** Parents unknown, most likely deceased. Natsu Dragneel, fiancé.

Magic: **Sei no Metsuryū Mahō** (Star Dragon Slayer Magic), **Za Naito** (The Knight)

**Likes:** to be in charge, weapons and armors, kinkiness.

**Dislikes:** evilness, lies, Mirajane.

**Magic description:** Her magic 'The Knight' allows her to ex-equip weapons and even armor in an instant. Her new Star Dragon Slayer magic uses energy of light to create flows of ion plasma, which she can control via magnetic fields. Plasma, heated approximately to 18,000 Kelvins, can incinerate almost everything. Just like in Natsu's case, the complex nature of this magic makes most anti-magic measures ineffective against her advanced spells. Due to an initial mislead, Erza started to learn Flame dragon slayer magic, however, she completely lost both access to flame spells and ability to consume flames after she learned true nature of her lacrima and got the Dragon queen's soul.

**General description:** Fairy Tail's strongest woman, Erza has a very dark past, which still does not allow her to breathe freely. Honest and brave, she was betrayed by the person she admired the most. After this, she tried to hide her very fragile soul from everyone inside the armor suite. She has a kind nature though, to the others, Erza seems is a fearsome person and very enigmatic as well. She's also called a discipline member because she is very strict about the rules.

Since her battle against Natsu and the beginning of their relationship, Erza eventually learned to trust him. She told him her story and, surprisingly, it really made her feel much easier once she knew that she was not alone anymore. In addition, she no longer wears armor in her daily life since she started to learn dragon slayer magic – for some reason the armor started to make her feel uncomfortable. For her behavior in bed Natsu gave her another nickname – 'The Sinner'. Erza denies this, but actually, her kinky mind liked this nickname.

**Random facts about Erza:** Despite Mira's drastic character change, Erza thinks that the new 'caring Mira' personality is temporary and as soon as the she-devil completely gets over the loss of her sister she'll become as she was before. In secret, Erza subscribed for Sorcerer's weekly right after her first date with Natsu, reasons unknown. Despite the fact that her relationship with Natsu is almost perfect the fact that she's a year and a half older than he is actually bothers her a bit.

**Notable quote:** 'I no longer believe in repentance, it's time for reckoning.'

* * *

**Spell book:**

For my own convenience, I grouped all spells into three categories. To help readers imagine the spell, which was not shown in original manga and anime I list here Natsu's and Erza's new spells with my comments.

First – Natsu. Because Natsu is a 'true' God slayer (he learned his magic from an actual goddess) all his spell are 'classic' – they only consist of Kanji and his advanced spells have a prefix, 'Blood star' (Ketsusei).

Here we go:

_– Natsu's __**basic spells:**_

**Senjin no Saiken** –_War God's Crushing Fist_ – Most basic spell, it looks just like original _Natsu's_ _Fire Dragon's Iron Fist._The user engulfs his fist in crimson energy and then punches his opponent, causing a lot of damage with a high-energy explosion. This attack can also be performed with both hands at once.

**Senjin no Dogō** –_War God's Howl_ – War god's slayer exclusive god's howl (bellow), the shape is similar to _Wendy's Sky Dragon's Roar_, it has a form of crimson tornado-like blast.

**Senjin no Shōkya** –_War God's Shock Kick_ – The user generates large flows of energy from their feet while swinging their leg down on the target to create very concentrated blast. Closest analogy is _Wendy's Sky Dragon's Claw._

**Senjin no Sōken** –_War God's Twin Blades_ – This spell is similar to original _Natsu's Fire Dragon's Wing Attack_, however, in this case user creates long energy swords from each of his arms, subsequently swinging these blades at the opponents and blowing them away. This spell has an area of effect.

_– Natsu's __**standard spells:**_

**Senjin no Bakusō** – _War God's Explosive Spear_ – This spell is similar to _Laxus' Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd_. The power of the spell is the same but blast is less concentrated – it has a larger radius but produces lesser damage to a single target.

**Senjin no Yōshihō** – _War God's Proton Cannon_ – With their arms extended forward and completely clad in crimson energy, the user fires a massive, concentrated beam of the aforementioned energy at their target. Closest analogy is _Orga's Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon (Manga only, Chapter 320, Pages 9-11)_

**Senjin no Sentsui** – _War God's Warhammer_ – This spell is similar to _Zancrow's Flame God's Scythe – _user creates a huge energy hammer, which can be used for large-scale destruction. Because it forms from unstable antimatter, it produces an explosion on contact, like all of Natsu's spells.

**Senjin no Ukyogun** – _War God's Raven Flock_ – This spell has no visual analog in manga/anime. User creates hundreds of energy beings, shaped as birds, and sends them at the target to produce multiple explosions.

**Sentō Chūkaku** – _Combat Core_ – War god slayer's analog of _dragon slayer's 'drive' spell_, has the same effect – it increases user's speed and strength.

_– Natsu's __**advanced spells – **_**Metsujin Ōgi (God slayer's secret art):**

All advanced spells are original and have no visual analogy.

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Manjinyō**_ – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Ten Thousand Blades Dance_ – User creates a huge amount of energy blades, which first sliced the target's body and then explode with devastating effect.

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku **– _God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath_ – This spell is a modification of _Lina Inverse's signature spell – 'Dragon Slave'_. It use huge crimson missile instead of energy ray, but power and effect are the same – Total Annihilation.

…

Now to Erza. Despite Erza initially being an artificial dragon slayer, she now possesses the soul of a real dragon, so now she can be counted as 'true' Dragon slayer. All her spells are 'classic' too – they'll consists of Kanji only and her advanced spells will have a prefix, 'Heaven's Kingdom' (Tengoku).

_– Erza's __**basic spells:**_

**Seiryū no Shōgeki** – _Star Dragon's Shock Blow_ – Most basic spell, it looks just like _Sting's_ _White Dragon's Punch._The user engulfs her fist in plasma energy and then lands a powerful punch, causing great damage to the opponent with a high-temperature shockwave. This attack can also be performed with both hands at once.

**Seiryū no Hōkō** – _Star Dragon's Roar_ – Star Dragon Slayer's exclusive roar, the visual shape is similar to _Laxus' Thunder Dragon's Roar_. The user gathers plasma in her mouth and releases it in the form of a concentrated, destructive blast, capable of vaporize everything in a wide area in front of her.

**Seiryū no Yokusen** – _Star Dragon's Wing Flash_ – This spell is visually similar to _Chelia's Sky God's Dance._ The user creates two streams of plasma from their hands and then sends them spiraling towards the target, blowing the target away with a bright flash of plasma.

**Seiryū no Kudatsume** – _Star Dragon's Crushing Claw_ – This spell is almost the same as original _Natsu's Fire Dragon's Claw._ The user engulfs her feet in plasma and proceeds to assault the opponent with a powerful energy-enhanced kick, with the plasma greatly augmenting the power of the blow. Because of very hot plasma, it creates a shockwave on contact.

_– Erza's __**standard spells:**_

My dear Erza spent almost a full day learning at least the initial rules of this spell, so pay attention to it xD:

**Seiryū no Shōryō** – _Star Dragon's Plasma Beam_ – This spell is visually similar to _Chelia's Sky God's Boreas (Lit. from Kanji – Sky God's North Wind, __**Tenjin no Haifū**__). The user creates a spiral of plasma energy around her hands and then throws it at the target, generating a large whirlwind of pure plasma, capable of obliterating almost everything._

…

That's it for now. There are more spells to come, stay with me people =)

…

Okay, that's it. Now the old part, so those who already did read this, cya =)

* * *

This update took long and the chapter is relatively short since I'm on assignment now and I have no full-size keyboard but instead I have a whole lot of work on my hands. Please be patient people, next update probably will take about two weeks too. I'm still far away from my home. Moreover, quite disappointing chapters 334 and 335 did not accelerate my job on this fiction (336 was not too brilliant, either, and 337 looks quite senseless).

**Anyway, thanks everyone who left the review.**

…

Answers for the **review**ers:

**FanFictionHunter:** Many thanks. Congrats you with becoming a fic-writer too. =) Yeah, but Natsu's spells almost the same as Erza's (DS), so there is no point for him to copy her basic DS spells.

**Toaneo07 Ver2.0: **Thanks man.

**Silent Reader 6100: **Thanks, I really like chapter 10 myself. By the way – Gray's alive… Poor Ultear died instead. Nice job, Mashima-san. It seems Reina really was Ultear's prototype, but why shall they share the same fate…

**Guest(s), :** Here you go, thanks for the support.

**Kyo no Kitsune: **I think we've solved the question through PM. To be honest I thought about showing the original kanji in 'spell translation section', but I doubt here are many people who're actually interested in it.

**Kyubbiman: **Actually the story was proofed several times and beta-proofed once more (first 6 chapters yet), this might be just a dialect.

**eze5555:** Excuse me? =) What you mean?

* * *

About my plans for the next arcs:

Each next arc will be less and less canonical.

First, in order to make a story more original I decided to send Natsu and Erza after Astrum Eclipsis right after Galuna Island. I got a new idea to replace Loki's arc.

Phantom Lord Arc will introduce another OC, but the arc itself will be around canon since it has a whole lot of acting characters, however, I'll try to make it original enough.

Tower of Heaven... ironically the most NaZa arc of original series will be a bit shorter (I'm going to forfeit the flashbacks from original series – we all seen them already) but it will contain another social chapter (may be more than one) with flashbacks about relationships between Natsu and Erza, but this time they will be from Erza's POV (Mostly).

Fighting festival: Oh, I have great plans for this arc. For now I'll point only at obvious difference – Erza's dragon slayer so she won't be able to leave the guild building =)

Nirvana. This is what I aiming for! This arc will be completely rewritten and it'll reveal the meaning of hints what will start to pop up from Phantom Lord ark and onward.

…

About characters OOCness. Don't be sorry about it people, it's inevitable. For example, none of us saw Erza in romantic relationships, so we all have to guess her behavior. Of course, we all see it differently. It's applying to every character in fan-fiction. Besides, for a romance story with characters who are not in a romantic relationship in the original story authors usually have to make characters OOC to keep the pair intact.

…

About pairings… Well, I'm a NaZa follower so I really want to see this pair in original series, but, to be honest, I doubt we'll see any pair at all. The FT openly none-romantic (yeah, even between emo-kid and Erza, it's just not serious), Mashima just laughing at shippers, all of them. The chapter 331 for example was most anti-NaLu chapter since omake _'Beware of Guys Who Show a Keen Interest'_

…

**Now, let's proceed.** This chapter is a bit short since I have a little time right now, I just wanted to remind about myself =). I decided to cut off Gray's memories – we all seen them already and there is no reason for them to be different, Natsu have nothing to do with them.

* * *

**Chapter XI – Violence Solves Everything, Part I.**

…

"You're the one who killed Ur…" Leon repeated coldly, "…Gray." Gray's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Ur's former student. While Leon's eyes remained slanted, he raised his hand, charging magic as he added, "It is presumptuous enough of you to even mention her name!" One second later a bolt of ice hit Gray square in the chest, causing him to fly back and crash into a piece of the ruins.

Gray sat up after the impact of the attack, his head lowered as he said to the former pupil of Ur," L-Leon…" and Gray struggled to get back on his feet, his head still lowered.

"What's the matter? Feeling too guilty to fight back," he taunted. "In that case, please stay out of my way. I'm going to revive Deliora."

Gray grunted in anger as he yelled back, "I won't let you!"

Leon simply smiled as he saw Gray's expression – clearly the Fairy Tail mage was baffled. Leon's eyes remained cold as he finally dropped the mask, "That's the spirit. All right, let's have a match then, it's been a while…"

* * *

Galuna island, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 14, 10:00 PM.

Fairy Tail's ice mage lay still, at the top of the temple, all alone, utterly defeated by Leon. Despite being severely beaten up, Gray's eyes remained open. He remembered how he was in the same position ten years ago – helplessly lying on the ground, just like this, after being defeated.

…

"I think we have a winner for 'the most pitiful sight of the week' contest," Natsu's voice sounded nearby as two figures approached Gray. "Lame… You are almost beaten to death…" The Ravager's voice sounded quite cold and very disappointed.

"Natsu… Erza… What are you doing here?" Gray croaked weakly.

"We saw Sin and Lucy returning to the village, what's going on Gray?" Erza asked as she leaned down to examine Gray's wounds.

"Leon… gave an order… to his lackeys… he wants them… to destroy the entire village…" Ice mage answered with efforts, "Lucy and Sin… went to the village… to try to stop them…"

"What?! Destroy the village?!" Erza growled angrily.

"That white-haired slink! He can't defeat us so he decided to punish the villagers instead!" Natsu said furiously as his eyes blazed with crimson light. "Where is he?!" Natsu asked seeing that everyone was gone.

"All of them left… just a few minutes ago…" Gray answered weakly.

"C'mon, we have to return to the village and help Lucy!" Erza shouted as she started to run. Natsu roughly put Gray's body over his shoulder and followed the star dragon slayer.

"Damn pup! He pushed us down and escaped… It'll be our fault if Lucy gets hurt!" Natsu growled angrily.…

As Natsu with Gray on his shoulder and Erza were making their way back to the village to help Lucy and Sin, Gray kept his eyes open as another memory flashed before his eyes.

…

_Inside the cabin Ur took care of him and Leon, the purple haired teacher yelled while a younger Leon looked shocked, "Stop! You know you don't stand a chance against Deliora! It's too much for you, Gray!"_

…

As his memory faded away Gray clenched his teeth, calling for the slayers, "Natsu… Erza… I'm sorry… I failed you…" as tear fell from his eyes.

"Silence…" Natsu hissed without even looking at the Ice mage. "I'll deal with you later," he added, continuing to run.

* * *

Galuna island, local village, Year X784, July 14, 10:55 PM.

The blonde haired Celestial wizard had returned to the village in time, thanks to Sin, to tell the villagers about their findings. She told them that a demon called Deliora is hidden inside a secret cave underneath the Moon Temple and that Leon and his crew are using the magic called **'Getsuda' **[Moon Drip] to melt the ice and release the demon. In addition, Deliora might be the cause of the curse that was put upon the island. "So the guys that are responsible for your transformation now are about to attack the village!" She finished her explanation, which unsurprisingly made every villager extremely worried.

"They're coming here?!" a villager asked in fear of what the group might do.

"Yes," Lucy replied, "But this is also our chance to catch them and find out how to turn you back to normal."

The villagers look amongst themselves wondering if Lucy's plan might actually work.

"Will it really be that easy?" one of the villagers asked.

"I'm not so sure about this..." another replied, unsure about this plan.

"Are they serious?" a third one asked, scratching his chin.

"Lucy, those three are probably mages. I know – Natsu took them out with two blows but that was Natsu and he took them by surprise. For you it will be a challenge to defeat them…" Sin said, expressing his concern.

"That's true…" Lucy replied rubbing her chin. "Even though we outnumber them, we don't have any wizards here…"

"So you have no intention to fight?!" Sin face-palmed. "After all those pleas to help you become stronger?"

Lucy ignored Sin's words as she clapped her hands in delight, a smile beamed on her face, which caught everyone off guard. "I just thought of a great plan!"

"I don't like her excitement…" Sin murmured to himself.

"What's all this commotion about?" the village elder asked, walking up to the crowd of villagers and Lucy.

"Mayor," several villagers greeted him as the elder approached.

"Elder, please listen!" Lucy exclaimed, "The hostiles are going to attack this village very soon!"

"Hostiles?" Moka asked.

"They live in the ruins at the other side of the island. They're the culprits that transformed everyone's body like that," the stellar mage explained.

"I did not asked for that!" Moka yelled wildly, "Why can't you just destroy the moon?!"

"B-but we don't have to destroy the moon anymore," Lucy replied nervously, trying to keep a smile on her face. "As long as we can defeat the culprits."

But Moka ignored the words of the blonde haired mage as he cried, "The moon… Please destroy the moon!" Two villagers grabbed his frantic arms as one of them said, "Mayor! Please calm down!"

"Come this way, please," the second demon-villager requested as they dragged the frantic Moka away. Lucy watched the ordeal with a confused expression. Talk about obsession with the moon destruction…

"Please, don't mind him. He went through a lot with his son, Bobo…" another villager said, getting Lucy's attention as she turned to him. They could still hear the Mayor's yell in the background: "If only the moon was not there, Bobo would've…!"

"I understand…" Lucy replied looking at the bird-lizard-like villager, "Anyway, we're going to capture them!"

"But how?" the villager asked.

"Just leave this to the great Lucy! Fairy Tail's number one **Seirei Madōshi!** [Celestial Spirit Wizard] This is going to work like a charm, just watch!" she replied with an assuring smile. _'Oh, I'm so awesome!'_ Lucy thought squealing.

"She's really gotten into this…" Sin noted in a hushed whisper. _'Interesting, can the curse burst someone's ego?'_ the little boney creature pondered.

Lucy took one of her Golden Zodiac keys from her belt and called, "**Gate of the maiden, I open thee! **_**Barugo**_**!**" The familiar pink haired spirit of the maiden burst out from the magic circle and greeted Lucy with a bow.

"Did you call for me, princess?" Virgo asked.

At once all of the villagers were instantly in love with Virgo, pink hearts appeared in their eyes as calls of 'So cute!', 'So this is a maid', and 'I can't get enough!' were heard from the islanders. Lucy face-palmed at the islanders' reaction. "Guess they don't get many maids around here…"

* * *

(About fifteen minutes later)

After a few minutes, Lucy's plan was now operational as Virgo finished her job and now stood with her usual maiden's stature while the villagers were watching at Lucy as well.

"Princess, preparations are complete," Virgo reported calmly.

"Thanks, Virgo. You are always so fast," Lucy replied happily.

"You wish to punish me?" Virgo asked politely, freaking Lucy out a little.

"That was a compliment!" the stellar mage snapped back.

"Lucy, you know what…" Sin said as he landed on Virgo's shoulder.

"What's up Sin?" Lucy responded.

He raised his boney claw up and said, "I really think that you might actually be an idiot, Lucy."

"Whatever happened to "If you can't say nice things?" Lucy replied calmly. "You think that all blondes are stupid?"

"No Lucy, I think _you_ are stupid," Sin clarified his previous statement. "I can't imagine that they'd fall for such a childish trick…"

Lucy smiled cunningly with a pink blush on her cheeks as she rubbed her chin with her thumb and index fingers, "What're you talking about? This pitfall is perfect!" Now near the village's entrance was a covered pitfall trap, which cover wasn't the best as it had a large mound of quite seeable dirt.

"Yeah, I see. That's exactly why you are an idiot," Sin commented as he looked into the sky and prayed to Natsu's mother "O Great Morrigan, please, lend us your aid…"

"There's only one entrance into this village right?" Lucy asked, "Which means that the enemy is sure to come in that way!"

"Yeah, but we are not hunting morons Lucy," Sin commented from Virgo's shoulder. "I don't think there's a single person who would fall for that."

"I… I agree…" Said a green-skinned female-demon.

"Actually, neither would I…" A muscular red-skinned male-demon with horns agreed too.

"Princess, I concur as well…" Virgo chimed in, freaking Lucy out again.

"Even you?!" Lucy exclaimed seeing that her own stellar spirit did not approve her plan. Lucy clutched her left fist, as she gave a resentful look to the villagers and Virgo with Sin on her shoulder. "Just watch, all of you!"

"Ms. Lucy! Someone is coming!" the gate guardian called out from above.

"They're here already? Open the gate!" Lucy ordered as she looked from the guard to the gate.

"Yes ma'am!" the guard replied as the gate slowly began to open. Lucy placed her hands to her hips, saying slyly, "Now, come to mama…"

"Is everyone all right in here?!" Erza's voice called out as Lucy and the villagers saw two figures approaching the village through the night, one of them was carry something on his shoulder.

"Wha…?!" Lucy screamed. It wasn't Leon's lackeys, but her own teammates.

"Natsu! Erza!" Sin shouted in relief – now there were no reasons to be afraid of Leon's crew.

"No! Don't come!" Lucy screamed shaking her hands and head, her eyes wide with shock. They were about to ruin her plan to trap Leon's group.

"Huh?!" the two mages wondered upon seeing Lucy, who looked like she didn't want them to come into the village.

As they got closer and closer to the entrance, Lucy's pleading turned into screaming, "Hold it! Stoooooop!"

"What is it, Lucy?" Erza asked as she and Natsu finally stopped right before the 'hidden' pitfall. Lucy sighed with relief. _'Whew… That was close…'_ She thought.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Erza asked, taking a step forward, her dragon eyes focused on the stellar mage so she did not notice the pitfall. Lucy looked at her with her mouth wide-open as the dragon slayer started to fall into the trench. The villagers, Lucy, Sin and Virgo were stunned as they became the witnesses of Erza's fall but Natsu managed to catch her by the collar at the last moment.

"Someone did fall for it, after all…" one of the islanders commented.

"I did not expect that, but…" the second one agreed.

"Someday you'll start to watch your step?" Natsu asked shaking his head.

"Why should I expect something like this on friendly territory?!" Erza exclaimed resentfully, trying to justify herself.

'_I'm dead meat…'_ Lucy thought as Erza's cheeks became a bit pink from rage.

"Who's the genius whose head invented this 'brilliant' idea?!" the she-dragon growled, slightly freaking out everyone.

The villagers, Sin and even Virgo unanimously pointed at Lucy. "Erza… I… I can explain… I tried…" Lucy stuttered as she moved backward from the approaching dragon-mage whose eyes were glowing with white-blue light. As Erza warmed up her palms, it was possible to guess that she was intending to give Lucy a good spanking right in front of the whole village.

"By the way, Sin, Leon's lackeys, they have not shown up yet?" Natsu asked as he placed Gray's body on the ground (he did not intend to protect Lucy).

"Now that you mention it, they are late…" Sin scratched his skull "…they headed this way earlier than you, yet you two arrived here first."

"…Ouch! Erza, I'm sorry! Please, stop!..." Lucy yelled at the background while all of the villagers were drooling as they watched one girl give a spanking to the other (in a comical manner).

"Strange, we even returned to the top of the pyramid first, so it took quite a while," Natsu thought aloud. "It's taking too long, could they actually be up to something?..."

"Aaaau! Erza, I'm begging you, stop!" Lucy screamed, unlike Erza herself Lucy did not enjoy being treated like this.

"They are pitiful losers but I don't think that they're lost," Sin agreed as he and Natsu continue to discourse, ignoring the weird scene nearby. "I don't like it…"

Suddenly Erza stopped 'the procedure' and turned her sights on somewhere in the night sky, leaving a tearful Lucy and her arse alone. "Natsu, look! There!" She pointed somewhere at the welkin.

The god slayer, Sin and the villagers looked into the direction she pointed.

"Wh-What's that?!" one of the villagers pointed out as he and the others were able to see something approaching.

"Madness…" Natsu whispered in disbelief.

"Is that the rat which you knocked out this morning?!" Lucy asked as she moved closer to Natsu, despite her butt still burning. "It's a flying rat!"

True to her words, it was a flying rat. It wasn't flying by using wings, but instead its tail was spinning around like a copter as Toby, Yuka, and Sherry were riding on the rat's back. There was something in its paws as Sin pointed out. "Is that a bucket?" It seems that rat carried a large silver bucket with some purple drawing on the side.

"Flying in the sky? You're wasting my efforts to make this pitfall!" Lucy yelled at Leon's crew as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth – she just got her ass spanked for nothing.

In the air Sherry, Toby, and Yuka stood on the back of Angelica, their hair whipping wildly in the wind. "Preparing the _'nuke'em all'_ jelly took quite a while," Sherry noted folding her arms.

"But our timing is good though, those damn mages are all gathered in the village," Yuka stated holding his hands behind his back.

Toby barked in agreement as Sherry added emotionlessly, "Unless we destroy Deliora our wish will never come true. Only "death" awaits whomever gets in our way…"

'_Death?'_ Erza thought as she overheard Sherry's words, _'What are they up to?'_

As Angelica carried the 'Nuke'em all' jelly, a single drip of a green jelly dribbled from the bucket and plummeted down to the ground. Lucy's eyes widen as she looked at the drip of green substance falling right on her.

"Jelly?" Lucy said uncertainly as she raised her arm as if to touch the green goo.

"Lucy, look out!" Erza screamed, just as she grabbed the blonde haired girl in the nick of time to get her away from the jelly's drop as it fell to the ground. When the drop hit the ground, it began to dissolve the vegetation and even the earth itself, shocking everyone.

"Hiee!" the blonde exclaimed in shock as she understood that Erza most likely just saved her life.

"Lucy! Never try to touch anything that belongs to the enemy!" Erza scolded the celestial mage.

The villagers began to scream in panic as one of them yelled, "Do they have a bucket full of this?!" while one beside him asked in horror, "D-Don't tell me they're going to splash it on us?!"

"Ugly..." Yuka remarked seeing the villagers, "To think that humans become so ugly under the influence of the Moon Drip…"

"As if they are demons… How displeasing, they are like Deliora's children…" Sherry said looking down at the whole lot of the villagers as Toby barked in agreement.

"You… you stupid brutes…" Erza growled in anger as she heard Leon's lackeys' words.

"Angelica, go ahead," Sherry ordered the large flying rat. Angelica obeyed and splashed the green acid-like jelly out of the bucket right above the village.

"How do you expect us to protect ourselves from the stuff like this?!" Freaked out Lucy yelled in panic as she watched the green goo coming down on the village.

"Easily," Natsu answered as his eyes started to burn with crimson light. He looked upward and raised his arms: **"Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!"** [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath] Natsu created a huge missile composed of twisting crimson energy, and launched it into the sky. The missile traveled up to the jelly's mass and clashed with it, causing an extremely powerful explosion in the sky. The powerful blast of antimatter obliterated the entire jelly's mass to the last drop as spectators were forced to shield their eyes from the bright flash in the sky.

"Who is this guy?!" Yuka yelled in shock. Natsu's destructive power could be compared to Deliora himself.

"Angelica, hold on!" Sherry exclaimed as a shockwave from the explosion dazed the rat a bit.

"**Seiryū no Hōkō!" **[Star Dragon's Roar] Erza released a roar in the form of a concentrated, destructive blast of plasma, targeting the rat. She landed a direct hit right into the rat's snout, stunning it. The rat's tail stopped and it began to fall, along with Leon's screaming subordinates.

"Mayor, look out! It's falling toward you!" one of the villagers shouted trying to warn the elder.

"I..! I won't leave Bobo's tomb!" the Mayor retorted to leave.

"Mayor, I can understand your feelings but…" another villager exclaimed as the huge rat was almost on the ground.

BOOM! The impact of the rat falling on the ground elicited a dust cloud and crushed Bobo's tomb with its weight.

"Mayor!" one of the villagers exclaimed as all of them and Lucy were shocked – no way the mere human (even a cursed one) could survive such an impact. However, a few seconds later Virgo bursted out from the ground, carrying a dazed but alive Moka.

"We have to punish the Mayor," the Maiden noted.

"Virgo!" Lucy exclaimed thankfully once she saw the mayor alive.

As the dust cloud dispersed it revealed all three enemy mages, they were covered with dust but alive and conscious while the rat was out completely.

"You… you weak-minded cretins…" Natsu growled furiously. "I played a 'good wizardie' long enough, now I'll show you that there are much more horrible being in this world than the demon inside the block of ice."

"Last time you took us by surprise, but now we are prepared," Yuka replied dusting off his coat.

"We have to eradicate all of Reitei-sama' enemies. For…" Sherry was cut off mid-sentence as Erza released another plasma blast from her mouth.

"Shut up bitch, **Seiryū no Hōkō!"**

"**Hadō!**" [Surge] Yuka shouted, creating a dome of blue magic around himself and his comrades. Erza's roar collided with it and was dispersed, doing no harm to Yuka nor his friends.

"Such destructive magic…" Yuka noted. "I heard abo…" He too was cut off mid-sentence.

"**Senjin no Dogō!"** [War God's Howl] Natsu released a crimson vortex toward the enemies but it collided with the blue magic dome and produced no effect as well.

"D-Don't you have the manners to listen until someone is done talking?!" he stammered with his left hand still up to support the spell.

"The time for talking is over. You just tried to kill us along with more than fifty innocent people so I do not want to hear your talking, I want to hear your screams," Natsu stated with his eyes glowing. "Let battle rejoice!"

"Maybe we should leave the area?" Lucy asked Sin but got an answer from Erza.

"Don't worry Lucy, they won't harm anyone. Just watch," the dragon mage stated.

"**Ningyōgeki: Ganingyō!"** [Doll Play: Rock Doll] Sherry shouted holding her hands like a puppeteer as the rocks behind Sherry started to rise up from the ground, forming themselves into a large rock creature. Sherry was on its head, controlling the stone creature. "Let's see how you'll handle this!" the pink haired girl exclaimed raising her right hand to lift the Rock Doll's right fist to aim it at the weaponless Natsu. She then ordered the doll to strike. The doll obeyed, sending its fist into Natsu, who simply blocked the attack with his elbow. "What?!" Sherry yelled with widened eyes. "You blocked my attack with just a bare hand?!"

Natsu did not answered as he pushed the doll's fist away and raised his arms: "**Senjin no Yōshihō!**" [War God's Proton Cannon] The stream of crimson energy hit the target and produced a shockwave that shattered the doll to dust.

"My rock doll… with one attack…" Sherry said in disbelief.

"**Senjin no Saiken!"** [War God's Crushing Fist] Natsu dashed toward Sherry and slammed his fist right into her face, sending her into nearest stone.

At the same time Erza continued her struggle with Yuka. "Nullifying surge… Nothing special…" Erza said with a yawn. "This magic has a weakness and I'm going to show it to you."

"This magic can deflect any type of magical attacks! What weakness could it have?" Yuka asked with his left arm still extended forward to support the blue dome of anti-magic.

"This one," Erza answered with an evil smirk as she pushed her arm through the dome and grabbed Yuka's hand. Then she clenched her fist with a huge force, breaking several bones of Yuka's palm, making him to scream in pain. His anti-magic field disappeared as Erza released his palm and used her spell point-blank. "**Seiryū no Yokusen!**" [Star Dragon's Wing Flash] Erza created two streams of plasma from her hands and then sent them spiraling toward Yuka, blowing him in the air. He was knocked out but this did not stop Erza – when he was close to the ground, but still was in mid-air, Erza slammed her fists into his side: "**Seiryū no Shōgeki!**" [Star Dragon's Shock Blow], sending him flying head over heels toward Natsu. "Its weakness is its weak user," the dragon mage said.

At the same time the God-Slayer raised the knocked out Sherry by her collar: "**Senjin no Sōken!**" [War God's Twin Blades] Natsu's twin blades sent the girl's body toward Erza and Sherry smashed into Yuka with great force, accompanied by sound of breaking bones.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock as she watched the clearly unnecessary violence toward the already defeated enemies. "Hey, stop! You'll kill them like this!" Lucy yelled as she saw that the slayers still did not appeased their thirst for violence and were heading toward the two already beaten bodies.

"Leave them alone!" Toby rushed toward Natsu and Erza in a desperate attempt to save his friends from a further beating, with his **Asashi Birerutsume** [Paralysis Nails] extended.

"Right, we forgot about you…" Natsu said with false vexation in his voice.

"Prepare to be struck down by my **Mega Kurage!**" [Mega Jellyfish] Toby shouted as he came close and raised his arms…

"**Senjin no Shōkya!"** [War God's Shock Kick]

"**Seiryū no Kudatsume!"** [Star Dragon's Crushing Claw]

Natsu and Erza performed almost the same attack by magic-enhanced leg blow, hitting him into his chest (Natsu) and abdomen (Erza) and sending him flying into the large rock near the village's gate.

Nevertheless, it seemed Toby succeeded in the task of saving his friends as the crimson light in Natsu's eyes and the white glow in Erza's eyes faded.

"Tie them up," Natsu addressed the villagers. "Tie them to this stone." He pointed at little rock. "Tomorrow we'll have a little chat, now we're going to sleep. Good night everyone," He added, picking up Gray and heading toward the house that the villagers had for them.

"Do not forget to tie up this nonsense," Erza added pointing at the huge rat before following her beloved.

* * *

"What was that?" Lucy asked, still shocked, when the slayers vanished from sight. "Why were they so harsh with these three?" She helped the villagers apprehend the enemies, though her butt was still burning a bit from the spanking.

"They had a hard day – Zeref's demon in catacombs, falling from ruins, Gray's defeat – they just worked off their frustration on them. Poor bastards…" Sin answered with a smirk. "Besides – Natsu is partially a god of war and Erza partially a dragon – violence toward humans is in their blood…"

"You've seen it before?" Lucy wondered.

"Yep, with Natsu. Erza was more discreet before, but the dragon lacrima and, more importantly, regularly being in Natsu's company changed her. Who keeps company with the wolf will eventually learn to howl." Sin answered. "For example, if you'll become Gray's girlfriend you'll become an exhibitionist too," the skeletal dragon added, dodging Lucy's fist.

Meanwhile, in the shack on the other side of the village Gray regain consciousness. "Oh… Where am I?" he muttered to himself, getting up from the mattress he was laying on."

"Still on Galuna Island, in the village," Erza's voice answered. Gray turned around to see her and Natsu – both of them were staring into the book again.

"I assume the village is safe?" Gray asked, looking around and remembering Leon's order to his lackeys who agreed right away. _'Destroy the village'_. Gray frowned, disappointed in Leon's choice of actions. He went all this way to make sure no one gets in his way. _'How far have you fallen, Leon?' _he thought,_ 'I can't believe it. They actually went and tried to do it…'_

"Yes, more or less," Natsu answered emotionlessly. "Rest up Gray, you'll need your strength tomorrow."

"What for?" Gray wondered.

"What for?" Natsu repeated. "Gray, today you lost to that white-haired pup, and by doing so you disgraced yourself, me, because it's my mission, our guild and your teacher, and you're well aware of it." Gray gulped at Natsu's harsh words but the god slayer ignored it and continued "So tomorrow you're going to fight him again, and you will return with victory Gray, or you better to not return at all…"

"Quoting your mother?" Erza asked with a soft smile. She closed the book and took Natsu's hand, which he leaned on to help her stand up. _'We all had a hard childhood…'_ She thought, it seemed that her future mother-in-law was very intolerant of failures. But in the end Morrigan's harshness made Natsu into the man she loves… As well as her own past made Erza the woman that managed to attract Natsu's heart.

Natsu did not answered her question, just pressed her to himself before saying. "We're going to sleep, I suggest you to do the same Gray."

"I'll take a little walk before sleep," the Ice mage answered and exited the shack.

"You were not that harsh toward Macao after his failure at Mt. Hacobe, were you?" Erza noted, removing her shirt as she laid down on her stomach – it is her turn now to receive a massage, the seal of god on her right shoulder blade glowed in the darkness.

"Macao… well, he's a good guy, but… he's just a Macao. Gray, on the other hand, has potential – a lot of it. We cannot let him to turn into a softie…" The god slayer answered as he kissed Erza's neck before proceeding to the massage.

Gray was still nearby and he overheard Natsu's words. He sighed deeply – it's good that Natsu spoke highly about his potential, but what did that mean for him? Another memory popped up in his head.

_A younger Gray Fullbuster lay in the cold snow, his shirt gone as he lay there face down. His teacher Ur spoke behind him with her hands at her hips, "What's the matter? Giving up that easily?" she asked, "Get up, Gray…"_

'_Damn… He is right… I had disgraced everyone… I tried to protect my teacher's honor and failed… these people asked our guild for help and protection… and I failed them too…' _Gray stood near the little rock and slammed his fist into it "No more! No one will suffer from your madness again Leon. We'll settle this once and for all!"

* * *

Galuna island, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 15, 2:00 AM.

Leon stood in the cave where Deliora was kept as three other people entered the chamber. Two of them were Haru and Happy and the third one was a man of small stature, with a red mask with white horns and an odd symbol in the forehead and brushy green hair.

"Sub-Zero emperor, your subordinates have been defeated in the village," the short man reported to Leon.

"Defeated? Zalty, call a spade a spade – they were squashed like bugs and then pummeled into the ground," Haru 'corrected' the short man, whose name apparently was 'Zalty'.

"You… How dare you stand before me after you betrayed me and fled just a few hours ago?!" Leon growled at Haru.

"Betrayed? Don't make me laugh Leon, I never was at your side and I never tried to hide it. I wanted to help you revive the demon so you could fight him, and when you would get your ass kicked it could be my chance to fight the demon," Haru said as Leon's eyes narrowed in anger. "However, I'm no longer interested in the demon. I'm still going to help you but only because I want to fight with one of those two Fairy Tail mages," the fire dragon slayer said.

Leon stood quietly for a few seconds before turning to Zalty. "Do you know who these mages are? You usually have pretty good intel."

"Yes, Reitei-sama," Zalty answered, "The red-haired girl called Erza the Titania – she's considered Fairy Tail's strongest woman and she has a very short temper. The boy's name is Natsu, nickname 'The Ravager'. He's a Wizard Saint candidate and has a propensity to use violence for any occasion," Zalty explained but Leon remained calm.

"As always, you're remarkable well informed," Haru noted.

"I think they're going to make their move closer to tomorrow's evening," Zalty added.

"Let them come then," Leon answered. "We'll see what they got."

* * *

Galuna island, local village, Year X784, July 15, 6:55 PM.

Team Natsu spent the day preparing for the assault on the pyramid. Natsu wanted to dispose of all of Leon's followers at the same time; it meant that they had to wait until the evening when they gathered for the ritual. Natsu was helping Erza learn the star dragon slayer magic, Lucy was training with Sin and Gray spent the day… somewhere, hopefully recovering his strength for his rematch with Leon. He left 'for a walk' right after he explained Leon's reasons for melting the ice.

Since Gray explained Leon's reasonings, Natsu lost the interest in Leon's crew interrogation so he just intended to let them suffer under the burning sun for the whole day, being tied to large stone. However, Despite Natsu's protests, Erza ordered to move Sherry, Toby and Yuka into one of the village's shacks and treat them normally. Moreover, they were not in any shape to attempt escape anyway.

"Is everyone ready?" Erza asked as the team gathered near the village's gate. "We have to hurry, the moon will come out soon and we can't let them revive Deliora."

"Relax honey, even if they manage to revive the devil he won't be a problem, I can crush him with one blow," Natsu stated carelessly, surprising all of his team, even his bride.

"Are you mad?!" Gray exclaimed, "No one can destroy Deliora with one blow, neither you nor even master Makarov!"

"Gray, focus on your strategy against Leon and let me take care of the rest," Natsu replied a bit coldly. He was still displeased with Gray because of his defeat.

"But he is right Natsu, from Gray's story I can guess that Deliora is one of the strongest of Zeref's demons, much stronger than Zanaphar and maybe even stronger than Lullaby," Erza stated in Gray's defense. "You can't defeat it that easily, at least not with one blow."

"Wanna make a bet?" Natsu asked with smile as the team left the village and was now heading toward the pyramid.

"Stakes?" Erza asked with narrowed eyes – he seemed suspiciously confident to take the bet lightly.

"Nothing special. Let's say – if I lose I'll let you have those weird flowers, that we discussed a week ago, in our garden, and if I win you'll change your wardrobe cuz these cheap clothes just drive me nuts, so you'll let me to buy you new ones," Natsu suggested.

"Hey, they are not cheap you boor!" Erza exclaimed indignantly and tried to knee Natsu's ass (he dodged). "And those flowers are not weird, Natsu," she added with narrowed eyes and a hidden threat in her voice.

'_Erza… interested in… flowers?!'_ Lucy thought with widened eyes.

'_I think I'm underestimating her girlishness…'_ Sin scratched his skull.

"Whatever you say, do you agree or not?" Natsu asked still smiling.

Erza hesitated for several moments but then replied, "Okay, I agree."

"Guys you can't be serious!" Gray exclaimed "Deliora is horrific, he can't be defeated with one blow!"

"Gray, is the word '_cannot_' the only one you know?" Natsu asked coldly as his smile disappeared. Gray twitched as if he got a slap on his cheek as Natsu added, "Besides, fighting against Deliora is our backup plan. I have an idea on how to interrupt the ritual and prevent anyone from doing anything like that again."

"This cunning boy knows something…" Erza murmured to herself as the team continued on its way toward the temple.

"Why, then, did you agreed to make a bet?" Lucy asked as she walked behind the dragon-knight with Sin on her shoulder.

Erza shrugged. "If I win I'll be able to seed in our garden those cute little flowers that I saw in Oshibana without arguing and if I lose I'll get new, designer clothes, so why not?"

'_Yeah, strange bet…' _Lucy thought. It seemed that no matter who won Erza would benefit. _'Maybe there is something tricky about it? Ah, it's none of my business…'_

"By the way, Erza, I finally came up with the name for our new team," Natsu informed her with cheerful smile, as he and Erza formed a permanent team just a week ago.

"What? Our team needs a name? And why did you not even ask me?!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"Because I wanted to give a name for at least something," Natsu replied.

"What do you mean?" Erza wondered.

"What do I mean? I'm sure that you chose the names for at least three of our kids right after our first date, did you not?" Natsu winked at her.

"What?! No! What makes you think so?!" she exclaimed, trying to hide her eyes as her cheeks flushed heavily. She was obviously lying.

"Because you're absolutely incapable of lying and because I know how impressionable you are… Wait a minute!" Natsu exclaimed as he took a good look into her eyes. "Don't tell me that there are four names!" Erza's face became as red as her hair but she did not answer. "You are an oddity in feathers…" Natsu said as he embraced her tenderly when she buried her red face into his chest so he was unable to see her happy smile. "Anyway, our team's name will be 'Preachers of the Night'," Natsu said.

"And who among us is an oddity in feathers after this?" Erza asked as she looked into Natsu's eyes.

"Both of you," Sin whispered into Lucy's ear very quietly so even Erza could not hear him. "Pair of every creature…" He added, making Lucy giggle.

* * *

Galuna island, Beneath the Temple of the Moon, Deliora's chamber, Year X784, July 15, 7:45 PM.

Leon was standing near the entombed Deliora, facing the cave entrance.

"Sub-Zero Emperor, the enemy team is approaching," Zalty informed the ice mage as he entered the underground chamber with Haru following him. "If all goes as planned, the demon will be awoken at some point tonight." Zalty added, "But we have to keep an eye on those mages. If they're able to interrupt the Moon Drip ceremony, then Deliora forever will be entombed inside the Ice Shell." He paused before adding, "They could easily foil our plans." He assured him while Haru remained quiet.

"As always, you seem to know everything," Leon commented holding his left hand up and frowning coldly as his hand emitting a white mist. "But no matter, I can't say I'm worried. Those fools maybe strong, but they're no match for me."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Zalty replied. "It's very reassuring to hear." He bowed to the Sub-Zero Emperor with his right arm in front of his chest. "But still, allow me the honor of joining you in battle, for old times' sake."

"You are a mage too?" Haru asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm slightly familiar with the lost magic…" Zalty explained looking up at Leon with a smile.

"What an ominous fellow…" Leon replied.

"Anyway, I've already dispatched our people to hold them off, the moonlight is almost gathered, we need just one man to finish the ritual," Haru said. "I'll handle it myself."

* * *

Galuna Island, on approach to the Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 15, 8:00 PM.

As the Fairy Tail team approached the temple they were suddenly attacked by a bunch of odd, moon-shaped throwing weapons. After successfully avoiding the attack team Natsu appeared to be surrounded by weird, masked people, dressed into loose violet overalls.

"We've found you, Fairy Tail!" shouted one of the cultists.

"We won't allow you to interfere with Reitei-sama!" another one added.

"Found? Were we ever hiding?" Natsu asked flatly.

"We're surrounded!" Lucy exclaimed, but it seems she was the only worried person among her team.

"Well, I intended to get a bit closer, but I think I can get a clear shot even from here." Natsu smiled as his eyes flashed with crimson light.

"Natsu, what are you planning to do?" Erza asked.

"I'm going to interrupt the ritual" Natsu replied with an evil smile "Plan T.A."

"What?! Don't tell me you…" She was cut off mid-sentence as Natsu raised his arms…

"**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!"** Once again, Natsu created a huge missile, composed of twisting crimson energy, and launched it toward the Temple of the Moon.

* * *

Galuna island, Deliora's chamber beneath the temple, Year X784, July 15, 8:05 PM.

"What the hell is going on?!" Leon yelled as the underground cavern was shaken by a powerful explosion overhead. Suddenly, rays of setting sun illuminated the chamber through a hole in the ceiling that was just created.

"I think it's Ravager's way to say 'hello'," Zalty guessed with a strange facial expression. "He just destroyed the entire pyramid to make sure that the ritual will not be completed."

"Impossible!" Leon yelled. "To destroy something as big as our temple you need destructive power that could be compared to Deliora's!"

"Now you understand why I'm no longer interested in Deliora?" Haru smirked.

"Don't worry, Reitei-sama, I'll make sure that ritual can be completed, just be ready to face the enemies," Zalty said. _'I like your style, my dear Natsu, but Deliora really has to be revived…'_

* * *

Galuna island, on approach to the Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 15, 8:10 PM.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Natsu asked Leon's followers. "No more temple, no more moonlight and no more chances to free the demon." He looked at the mushroom cloud that appeared in place of the Moon Temple.

"No…"

"The temple…"

"Completely destroyed…"

"Tell me people, how much time did you waste for nothing? A year? Or more?" the god slayer asked with an evil smile – he enjoyed the desperation that he put upon his enemies.

"Natsu, I hate to admit it but Mira was right – you are a damn insane maniac…" Erza said with a face-palm as Lucy just looked at him with her mouth wide-open.

"Is it not the reason why you love me?" Natsu asked.

"It is and this is the worst part…" Erza muttered in answer.

"Yeah… But the deal is done. Despite it was absolutely crazy and irresponsible act – now we no longer need to worry about Moon drip," Gray noted. "Now we just have to deal with Leon and his gang."

"You… Do you understand what you have done?!" One of Leon's followers yelled.

"You and that idiot Leon defiled this island and made the life of its inhabitants unbearable. I just punished you for your crime by depriving you of your dream, whatever it was," Natsu answered calmly. "Now we'll just kick your asses and…" Natsu was suddenly interrupted as he looked at the temple's remains. "What the…" His team and all of Leon's followers as one turned toward the temple's side.

Under everyone's shocked gaze the temple started to restore itself – block by block, wall by wall. During one minute the whole pyramid was completely restored – it looked just as it was before Natsu's spell destroyed it, may be even better (building looked fresher). "I can't believe it…" Natsu murmured… "Does this temple have some kind of self-restoration capability?"

"This temple was sanctified by moonlight for several hundred years…" Erza replied as she stared at the temple, too, "Who knows what powers it holds inside."

"Hey look! The temple – it has been restored!"

"We still have a chance to melt the ice!"

"C'mon, let's deal with Fairy Tail!" Leon's followers got their morale raised as they prepared for combat.

"Lucy, we're going to check the temple, you have to cover our backs – deal with these fools!" Natsu ordered.

"What?! Me alone against this crowd!?" Lucy was scared and shocked by Natsu's order.

"These ragamuffins are not even mages Lucy, get rid of them. Sin, stay with her, "Natsu said before turning to the temple, "It's already getting dark and if the temple can restore itself then we have no choice but defeat Leon's gang."

"We won't let yo…"

"**Senjin no Dogō!"**

"**Seiryū no Hōkō!"**

A crimson vortex and concentrated plasma blast scattered all of Leon's men that blocked the path to the temple as Erza addressed Lucy, sending her signature glare to the celestial wizard, "Rest is up to you Lucy, we're counting on you."

"Ok… okay…" Lucy stuttered as her friends started to run toward the Temple of the Moon. _'Okay, I'm a mage of Fairy Tail too, I will not fail anyone!'_ the stellar mage thought as she gain determination. **"Open, the gate to the Golden Bull's palace, Taurus!"**

* * *

As Natsu, Erza and Gray continued on their way to the pyramid, Gray decided to reveal something. "Guys, before we'll enter to the pyramid – I want to tell you something…" the Ice mage began to talk as the last moments of Ur's life popped up in his mind "…about Leon and Ur."

"What do you mean – you already told us that he wants to fight Deliora to prove that he surpassed his master who was unable to defeat the demon," Erza replied as the team slowed down a little.

"In order to surpass someone in battle, the one who cannot be challenged directly, it seems logical," Natsu said, still looking at the pyramid.

"Yes, but there is something he doesn't know… Ur did disappear, but… _she's still alive!_" Gray stated clenching his fists.

"What do you mean, Gray?" Erza wondered.

"What exactly happened in the past?" Natsu added.

"Ten years ago Deliora attacked the town where I lived, it took less than a day to be destroyed…" Gray started his tale.

…

_Gray told the complete tale about his life with Ur and training under her guidance. About training, about his failed attempt to defeat Deliora, and that Ur used the Iced Shell to seal the demon and asked Gray to tell Leon that she died in battle._

…

"So, this is why that ice looked so strange – it has a living soul inside it, I just was unable to distinguish it because of the huge amount of magic…" Natsu mumbled to himself. "But why did she not retreat with the two of you? She could return later or find another mage to deal with the demon? Situation was not so desperate – why did she decide to transform herself?" the god slayer asked.

"I don't know Natsu…" Gray lowered his head. "The past ten years I still have no answers for these questions despite asking them myself every day…"

"Anyway, Gray – no matter why it happened – the only thing which matters now is that you have only one way to honor your master's sacrifice – deal with Leon and prove that she was right," Erza said looking at Gray.

"What you mean?" the Ice mage asked.

"I mean that Ur advised you to go to Fiore, did she not? You said so," the dragon slayer replied.

Gray smiled – he understood what Erza meant. Indeed, he did exactly as Ur said; he came to the west and found a lot of powerful mages and Fairy Tail.

While they talked, the creepy violet moon appeared above the island.

"Okay people, it seems the time for talk is over. Gray – go and find Leon – deal with him. We'll take care of the others," Erza ordered as they rushed toward the temple.

"You got it!" Gray replied. _'This time we'll settle this Leon, by all means!'_

All three mages entered the pyramid. "Leon is there," Erza pointed at the doorway at the side of the hall as she sniffed the air.

Gray did not ask how did she knew this, Erza seemed quite certain, so he just nodded and headed that way. As soon as Gray disappeared into the doorway, some voice called from the other side of the hall. "My, my, how did you know where Reitei-sama is?" A short, green-haired guy appeared from the opposite doorway.

"Who the heck are you?" Natsu asked indignantly as he and Erza stared at the weird-looking person.

"I'm the one who restored the temple after you destroyed it… or shall I say 'ravaged it'?" the masked man said carelessly.

"What? It was you?" Natsu asked with humor in his voice. He did not believe this man. Suddenly, a green glass ball shot toward Natsu. "Hey!" Erza shouted as the god slayer destroyed the ball with his bare fist, "What the hell was that?!" Natsu growled, angered by this stupid attempt to attack him.

However, the masked man just waved his arm and the shattered ball was restored its original form, surprising both slayers. "Oh my, my… It seems now you might actually believe me…" the green-haired guy smiled.

Just as he said it, a large magic circle appeared under the hall's ceiling and a beam of violet light shot from it toward the floor. "What? The ritual?!" Erza exclaimed.

"Oh, oh… The moonlight is gathered, soon Delira will be free…" the green-haired creep said.

"Not a chance!" Erza stated. "I'll stop it!" She dashed toward the exit so she could climb to the top of the building but the glass ball shot toward her to block her way. She noticed it and smashed the ball as Natsu attacked the green-haired guy to let Erza go freely. "Erza, go! I'll handle him!** Senjin no Dogō!"** the she-dragon nodded and continued on her way.

A flow of crimson energy hit the wall, making a large hole in it but the masked man dodged the attack and ran away. "Hey you! Get back here, we did not finish our talk!" Natsu yelled and dashed after him, he was still able to feel his presence thanks to his god sense.

* * *

(With Gray and Leon)

"So, you've come…" Leon said as he saw Gray enter the room. 'Reitei' was sitting on the old throne with a cold smile on his face.

"This is it Leon… We'll settle this, here and now," Gray stated as he came close. His voice sounded completely determined.

"Such confidence…" Leon replied, he stood up and took several steps toward Gray.

"Yes, it's my fault that Ur died ten years ago…" Gray said. "But I cannot forgive you for your attempt to destroy the village and hurt my comrades… and for trying to melt the ice…" the Ice mage announced and took the posture with his extended arms crossed. "We both shall undergo this 'punishment', Leon…"

"What?! Th-that posture?!" Leon stuttered in shock as his face was covered in a cold sweat. "Iced shell!? Have you gone mad?!"

"Return the people of this island back to normal immediately… Then take your men and leave. This is your last chance." Gray warned his former 'classmate', still holding his arms crossed.

But Leon's shocked expression disappeared as he heard Gray's words. "I see… So that spell was just a threat? Ridiculous…" Leon said with a scornful smirk but suddenly a strong shockwave of ice magic hit his face, making him cover his face from the harsh cold wind.

"I'm serious," Gray replied.

"You!" Leon yelled and tried to use his magic against Gray but the wind pressure increased, pushing him away and he fell on his back.

"The fact that Ur died because of me will never change… Regardless of how many years have gone by. The time has come! We have to make a choice Leon!" Gray shouted.

"Come on then, do it!" Leon said boldly.

"And this is your choice?" Gray said as he lowered his hands as the magic wind around him faded away. "But I made my own choice… I had chosen 'responsibility'."

"Ha! I knew you didn't have the guts to die!" Leon exclaimed with scorn in his voice.

"You disappoint me," Gray said calmly. "You really do not value your own life?"

"I knew you were just a coward, you are not brave enough to die. Besides, even if you _were_ brave enough… I'd be rescued anyway. That's why I said 'do it'. Even if I'd be enclosed in the ice, I still have my crew and we're on the island where Iced Shell could be melted with the moon drip." Leon replied with a scornful smirk. "But tell me, did you really want to use Iced Shell or it was an empty threat?"

"Initially, yes. I forgot that Iced Shell is useless here and I was intended to punish both of us with this spell. But about an hour ago I had a conversation with two people… Thanks to them I understood that using the Iced Shell is the real betrayal towards Ur." Gray said looking to the floor, he felt a bit guilty just because he thought about using Iced Shell now. "She sacrificed her life to let us live ours. Using Iced Shell is just like spitting into her face…"

"Whatever…" Leon listened to Gray's speech without interest with his arms folded. "So, do you still intend to hinder me from reaching my goal? You know you can never defeat m-…" Gray cut him off mid-sentence.

"Let's stop," Gray appealed to his old co-student.

"What?!" Leon asked in surprise.

"Give up on Deliora" Gray said still looking to the floor.

"What is this nonsense you're spewing?" Leon's smirk returned to his face. "First a threat, now persuasion? Does your guild have an excellent dentist who pulls your fangs or something?"

"Leon… Listen to me…" Gray said through clenched teeth, "_Ur is alive_…" Leon looked at Gray with a stone-like face as Gray continued to talk. "Iced Shell is a spell that transforms the caster's body into ice. The ice that sealed Deliora back then… What I mean is, the ice that you've been trying to melt… is Ur. Ur is still alive…as the ice…"

Leon stood still as if he was deeply shocked by this revelation, his eyes were empty and emotionless. "Sorry for not telling you this earlier… But I promised Ur…" Gray said through clenched teeth, his voice full of regrets as he remembered the last favor Ur asked from him.

"Gray…" Leon murmured as he came close to raven-haired ice mage.

"Leon… Let's just sto-" Gray was cut off mid-sentence as several drops of blood flew out from his mouth when Leon plunged an epee made of ice into Gray's abdomen.

"I already know all that. You're wasting your breath," Leon said with a wicked smile. "That's not Ur anymore… Just scraps of ice, which soon will be gone," he added as Deliora's deafening roar shook the entire pyramid. "It's happening! At last, after three long years the moon drip has been completed!"

* * *

(With Lucy and Sin)

Lucy stood in the middle of the pathway to the pyramid, with several dozens of beaten and unconscious bodies around her. She held Taurus' key in her arm and breathed heavily after the battle, but she looked satisfied. "You're moo-re than great, Lucy-san," the bull spirit said. "Especially your arse," he added before disappearing.

"Eh?!" Lucy yelped as she at last noticed that her skirt was ripped apart and she was left in her panties only. "When did that happen?!" She did not even notice it in the heat of battle.

"Actually, at the very beginning," Sin answered. "And it worked – many male enemies were quite distracted by your kinky underwear. Good tactics Lucy," Lil Dragon approved.

"Not funny! Oh, what shall I do?!" Lucy was embarrassed "I have to return to the village, I have a spare clothes there… what?!" She too heard Deliora's roar. "It's… it's… no!" Lucy understood what that noise was. "What should I do?!" Lucy yelled in panic. Curiosity, worry and embarrassment were tearing her apart.

* * *

(With Erza)

The scarlet-haired witch finally made it to the top of the pyramid when she heard the demon's roar. Up there she saw a lonely figure performing a ritual – a silver-haired boy with a scaled scarf. **"Seiryū no Hōkō!"** Without saying anything she attacked Haru with her plasma breath. The boy barely dodged her attack and shouted, "Too late! The ritual is finished - soon the demon will be free!"

* * *

Spell list:

**Seirei Madōshi** – Celestial Spirit Wizard

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath

**Seiryū no Hōkō** – Star Dragon's Roar

**Hadō** – Surge

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

**Ningyōgeki: Ganingyō** – Doll Play: Rock Doll

**Senjin no Yōshihō** – War God's Proton Cannon

**Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Seiryū no Yokusen** – Star Dragon's Wing Flash

**Seiryū no Shōgeki** – Star Dragon's Shock Blow

**Senjin no Sōken** – War God's Twin Blades

**Asashi Birerutsume** – Paralysis Nails

**Mega Kurage** – Mega Jellyfish

**Senjin no Shōkya** – War God's Shock Kick

**Seiryū no Kudatsume** – Star Dragon's Crushing Claw

* * *

Well, this is it people. Chapter eleven has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW!**_ See you in the next chapter – **Violence solves everything, Part II.**


	12. Violence Solves Everything, Part II

Hi there people! I'm back from my assignment, so there is the new chapter. I'm not going to complain about recent Fairy Tail chapters, I just want to say that I'm definitely didn't expect that GMG ark could appear just an 83 chapters long filler… Anyway, it won't going to affect my story.

**Thanks everyone who left the review.**

…

Answers for the **review**ers:

**FanFictionHunter: **Of course, my Natsu never done anything just for fun. As for flowers – In my mind I had a flower called '_Stapelia Mutabilis'_

**Dp11: **Thanks man. Yep, it's Haru from rave master, adapted for FT universe.

**Guest: **Nope, Happy won't be a bad guy, there are other persons for this role.

**Glass_harrison, Mira-san, eze5555: **Thanks people!

…

**Note: **According to some reviews and PMs I received I decided to make Phantom Lord ark less canonical then it was in my previous plans. I hope you'll like it.

**Note II:** I really thought about letting Team Natsu to fight the demon, but was unable to make good development, so I decided to postpone the battles with huge demons for the nest arcs.

**Now, let's proceed.** This chapter is a conclusion for 'Galuna Island' arc. I skipped some details – we all saw them in the manga. I made several action scenes instead. Oh, one more thing – chapter contains some fluffy romance scenes, so you might wanna consult your stomatologist after reading this xD.

* * *

**Chapter XII – Violence Solves Everything, Part II**

…

Island of Galuna, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 15, 9:20 PM.

(With Gray)

"Guu… Ugh… Gah!..." Gray fell on the floor, breathing heavily as he writhed in pain.

"That's not Ur anymore… Just a scrap of ice…" Leon said with a weird smile as his ice epee disappeared.

"You… you knew it?..." Gray asked holding his wounded side, a trickle of blood was flowing from the wound.

"Don't tell me you seriously believed that Ur was alive?" Leon chuckled a little. "Grow up already"

* * *

(At the same time, With Erza)

"It's too late!" Haru announced, "The ice has started to melt down, there is no more need to gather moonlight. In about fifteen minutes Deliora will be completely free…" The silver-haired boy stood in the middle of the pyramid's top platform and he seemed quite satisfied with himself.

"Why did you do this?" Erza asked with narrowed eyes. "I know Leon's motives, but why would you helped him free Deliora? What are your reasons?"

"Utterly the same," Haru replied, "I want to fight the demon too. That fool Leon has no chance against Deliora, and when he get his ass kicked – I'll be able to taste my strength in real battle…" Haru paused before continuing "…well, that _was_ my plan before your arrival."

"Was?" Erza snorted.

"Yeah," Haru smiled. "Since our clash yesterday I'm much more interested in you and that guy in the black coat. You are **Metsuryū Madōshi** [Dragon Slayer] too, aren't you?" Haru guessed.

'_So, you are actually the dragon slayer…'_ Erza noted to herself. She and Natsu discussed this guy's magic this morning, and they decided that he, most likely, is the **Shitsutta Mahō** [Lost Magic] user, most likely it is some kind of fire-based **Metsu Mahō** [Slayer Magic], according to spells that he used against them.

The silver haired boy continued, "The best challenge for a dragon slayer is a dragon or another dragon slayer – I no longer need some stupid demon…"

"Why, then, did you perform the ritual and free Deliora?" Erza growled through clenched teeth as anger began to boil inside her. This guy's reasoning appeared to be as idiotic as Leon's.

"To lure one of you here," Haru replied. "I knew that Zalty and Leon would force your team to split up. Don't worry about the demon – we're in the middle of the sea – we'll have plenty of time to deal with him before it could cause any damage," Haru explained, retaining his smile.

"All right, I've heard enough – now I'm absolutely certain that all white-haired people are idiots," Erza spat, insulting Leon, Haru and Mirajane along with them as well as wiping Haru's smile from his face. "Your idiocy made the life of the island villagers unbearable, so now I'll punish you for all you have done…"

"Bring it on! **Karyū no Hōkō!**" [Fire Dragon's Roar] Haru quickly gathered flames in his mouth and released them, producing a large burst of fire.

"**Entei no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [The Knight: Flame Empress Armor] Erza shouted, leaping aside. Within the fracture of a second she ex-equipped her fire-resistant armor. It was dark-red/black/orange in colors, featuring gloves and legplates shaped as dragon's limbs and quite a revealing chestplate, shaped as…well, an armored one-piece swimming suit. Also, it had a dragon-like pair of wings attached to it.

Erza managed to dodge the fireball, but still she felt the shockwave from Haru's attack. But, to her very surprise, she felt cold, not heat. For a few seconds she was stunned by this development, but then Natsu's words quickly popped up in her head '…_Now I understand why you chocked each time when you tried to consume flames – it was just too cold for you…'_

"Okay, I got it…" Erza muttered to herself, having forgotten that Haru actually could hear her. It seems that all fire-based magic will have a reverse effect on her because her dragon slayer magic is a mix of light and overheated substance, and dragon slayer magic directly affects slayer's entire being.

"So, you have a secondary magic?" Haru asked as he saw that Erza now wore an armor. "You can change armor sets?"

Actually, it was Erza's primary magic, but she just ignored Haru's question as she tried to figure out what to do, according to her new being. _'Damn, I hate when things happens like this…'_ She thought in frustration. Her current armor was working like a heat sink, lowering the temperature of enemy flames. But since temperature of generic flames already much lower than she could safely withstand, her anti-flame armor now will only increase the damage from enemy flames, which is rather ironic. Moreover, her Flame Empress Armor was now completely useless; it was very, very unlikely that someone in this world possessed magic that could be too hot for Erza.

'_Many thanks to you Natsu!'_ The star dragon slayer thought angrily, mostly because Natsu forced her for that 'adventure' before they've done with the enemies. Now she has to adapt not only to enemy abilities, but to her own new 'feature' as well.

* * *

(With Natsu)

"**Senjin no Bakusō!"** [War God's Explosive Spear] Natsu hurled his crimson energy spear into Zalty, but the weird, green-haired shorty leaped toward another doorway to dodge Natsu's attack as energy spear made one more hole in the temple's wall. _'What a stinker… Damn, it's something strange about this fool…'_ Natsu thought as he continued to chase Zalty to the temple's lower levels.

* * *

(With Gray)

SMASH! Gray suddenly jumped on his feet and slammed his fist into Leon's face. He was no longer feeling pain – it was completely suppressed by his fury. Leon was thrown back for several meters.

"What?!" Leon yelled in shock. "Im… Impossible! How can you move with that injury?!" The white-haired ice mage clenched his teeth, wiping blood from his mouth.

"I'm fed up…" Gray said.

"Huh?!" Leon replied, eyeing Gray's cold rage.

"I wanted to save you, but now I'm fed up with it," Gray growled. "**Aisu Meiku: Bō!**" [Ice Make: Bow] Gray conjured an ice bow and shot at Leon with three arrows at once. He did it so fast that Leon had no chance to react; he took a direct hit and flew a dozen meters head over heels. Leon tried to stand up but his face met with Gray's boot and he flew a few more meters.

"Trying to talk with you I have disgraced Ur's name and made an idiot out of myself in front of my friends and our client!" Gray shouted as he slammed his knee into Leon's abdomen. Leon tried to stand up again but Fairy Tail's mage slammed his fist into Leon's back and smashed him into the floor. "Now we'll talk in a language that you definitely will understand!" Gray struck his former co-pupil in his side with his feet and sent him crashing into the nearest wall.

"Gah… Hah…" Leon slowly stood up, huffing and puffing, leaning to the wall. "I can't be… bleeding… because of Gray!" he shouted suddenly, as he clenched his teeth, overcoming the pain, and cast a spell: "**Aisu Meiku: Sunō Doragon!**" [Ice Make: Snow Dragon]

"Gwaah!" This time Gray was caught off-guard as the snow dragon bit him with massive jaw and threw him away.

Leon stood panting, but his weird smile returned on his face. "I don't want to waste my magic power on you… After this I've gotta be ready for my battle with Deliora."

"I won't… let you…" Gray growled, trying to catch his breath.

"Stop struggling already; didn't you hear the roar? The ice has already started to melt, nothing can stop this process!" Leon announced with some maniacal expression on his face.

"We will… stop you…" Gray replied, struggling to stand up.

"You say that, even though Zalty and Haru already finished the Moon Drip ritual? Deliora will be free in a matter of minutes while you grovel before me." Leon taunted as he removed his cloak and threw it away.

"I'm not alone here, Leon," Gray replied with an insolent smirk on his face. "You guys can't even hold candles to those two psychopaths…"

* * *

(With Erza)

Another demonic roar shook the entire pyramid. _'All right, there is no way I can deal with the demon with this insolent pup hanging around…'_ Erza thought as she shot a glance at Haru, who stood still, awaiting her move.

"Okay… You want a challenge? You'll get it! **Myōjō no Yoroi: Za Naito!**" [The Knight: Morning Star Armor] In the end Erza decided that offence was the best defense as she equipped an armor, composed of orange and yellow leather-like material, and a pair of one-handed swords. "As he likes to say – let battle rejoice…" Erza's eyes blazed with white light and she rushed into battle.

(Song: Powerwolf – Nochnoi Dozor, starts from 0:30)

"**Kōryūshi no Ken!"** [Photon Slicer] By concentrating her magical power through both weapons, Erza combined her energy-charged swords together and sent forth a blast of energy, targeting Haru. Right after it she gathered plasma in her mouth and released it in the form of a concentrated, destructive blast, **"Seiryū no Hōkō!"** [Star Dragon's Roar]

"Wow!" Haru yelped as he dodged Erza's photon blast, which demolished several of the pyramid's columns. Seconds later he got a direct hit from her plasma roar and was sent crashing into the large cobblestone, behind which Erza and her team were hiding yesterday. "Guah!" he croaked. _'Heat?!' _Haru thought in shock as he, a fire dragon slayer who is immune to fire magic, got several burns, _'What kind of magic does she use?!'_ He was stunned but his dragon slayer's ears heard that Erza was getting closer for another attack. _'Fuck! Haru! She is not joking, move!'_ His internal voice yelled at him. The Fire Dragon Slayer urgently jumped on his feet and shouted **"Kaen Kudō!"** [Flame Drive].

Aura of orange light engulfed Haru's body as his speed, strength and endurance were increased. The Fire Dragon Slayer urgently dashed aside to avoid another destructive blast of plasma that left a hole in floor. **"Karyū no Nensō!"** [Fire Dragon's Blazing Spear] Haru brought his arms together and created a burning magic spear composed of orange flames, and hurled it at Erza. She rolled aside as his spear hit the ground nearby her and she felt a cold blastwave. Haru dashed to her with his greatly increased speed and slammed his fist into her chest while she was rising from the ground. **"Karyū no Tekken!"** [Fire Dragon's Iron Fist]

Haru's blow was so powerful that Erza crashed into the floor on her back, making a small crater. The Fire dragon slayer raised his fist for another blow but Erza suddenly clenched his arm between her feet as she made two streams of plasma from her arms and released a spell into him point blank, **"Seiryū no ****Yokusen****!"** [Star Dragon's Wing Flash]

Haru was thrown into the air with few bore burns, yet he rolled in mid-air as he made two streams of fire from his arms and sent them towards Erza, **"Karyū no Yokugeki!"** [Fire Dragon's Wings Attack] She had no time to dodge the attack and got a direct hit. Two fire streams exploded, eliciting large cloud of dust and smoke as it made a hole in the platform's roof and Erza fell down onto the pyramid's lower level. Haru followed her into this hole, thinking that she was at least dazed, but he was mistaken.

"**Kōryūshi no Ken!"** Once again she brought together her energy-charged swords and sent forth a blast of energy, while Haru was still in mid-air. He was caught in the energy beam and smashed into the ceiling.

As he fell down Erza dashed toward him, preparing for a close-range attack but Haru quickly recovered and, using his 'Fire Drive' powered speed, ran behind her, turned around and slammed his flame-covered foot into her back, **"Karyū no Kagitsume!"** [Fire Dragon's Claw] Erza flew forward head over heels and crashed into the pyramid's wall.

(Pause Song)

"Huh… huh…" Haru stood breathing heavily, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, looking at Erza who slowly rose on her feet. "This is… the best fight… in my life…" He admitted, trying to catch his breath and wiping blood from his forehead. This is what he sought, this is why he came to this stupid island and helped Leon and his stupid followers! He sought for a worthy challenge and this girl was exactly what he wanted. Moreover – she's a dragon slayer, so when he defeats her – maybe he will be able to force her to talk about dragons.

Erza looked back at Haru as she spat bloody saliva. It seems she had bitten through her lip when crashed into wall. To be honest, she was having a bit of fun, too – the excitement of battle was familiar to her as well. And, like Haru, she was deadly determined to win this battle. They still have a mission to complete and Fairy Tail's reputation is at stake.

* * *

(With Natsu)

Natsu chased Zalty down to Deliora's chamber. When he entered the cave the demons head and shoulders were already freed from ice.

"You see? It's already happened – the Moon Drip ritual is finished. The Ice will continue to melt even without moon," Zalty said, he stood on the rock near the demon.

"Why should I care?" Natsu replied emotionlessly, looking back at Zalty. "You think I'm afraid of that pathetic thing?"

"Ho, ho, but you should be afraid, this is one of the strongest Zeref's demons," Zalty said, trying to hide his surprise at Natsu's reaction. He expected that the god slayer at least would be worried.

"I know…" Natsu answered with the same emotionless voice. "And it could be a real challenge… but I know something about this demon… as well as I know that you're just a **Shinentai"** [Thought Projection] Natsu sighed. It was a true – at some point in his way down this creep made a projection and escaped. It was a good projection since it managed to deceive even Natsu's god sense.

"So, you know that I'm not real?" Zalty asked. "This is why you did not attack me on sight?" Natsu remained silent and Zalty took it as 'yes'. _'This guy is not as simple as I had thought… his eyes… Damn, it could be dangerous to be around him…'_ Zalty thought as his thought projection disappeared without saying a word.

"I think I'll just wait for Deliora's revival then…" Natsu shouted as he hoped that Zalty still could hear him somehow.

On a tree, not too far from temple, the real Zalty continued to watch over Deliora's chamber through his magic sphere. Pink smoke engulfed his body and he turned into a pale-skinned woman with dark purple hair, brown eyes and a rather voluptuous figure – Ultear Milkovich. _'Damn, I can't fight with this guy now… He can expose my true identity… Ah, no matter - when Deliora is freed he'll deal with him and the others and then I'll capture the demon,'_ Ultear thought as she continued to watch over the chamber through her magic sphere. _'And if Deliora will be the one defeated… then he just isn't worth my efforts,"_ she decided.

Natsu remained in Deliora's chamber, simply watching the melting ice. "Nice job… Gray's teacher (he forgot her name), you really did a great job defeating the demon…" Natsu whispered as the ice, which actually was Ur, continued to turn into water. _'I doubt I actually could do it myself… you really were strong… damn… I yet have so much to learn…'_

* * *

(With Gray)

Another deafening roar from beneath shook the entire temple. "How long have I waited for this… for ten years, I've been gathering knowledge and recruiting comrades!" Leon shouted as he raised his arm and summoned several birds made of ice. "Eventually I learned about this place: 'Galuna Island', where moonlight gathers." While he spoke his ice birds attacked Gray. "We brought Deliora in from Brago, that was three years ago."

Gray summoned his magic and produced a frost shockwave that destroyed Leon's birds. "So you've wasted three years for such a ridiculous thing?" he asked scornfully.

"Ridiculous?" Leon clenched his teeth in anger "How can you say that?! You who dissipated the past ten years in some guild?!" Leon yelled as he launched a large ice bird into Gray.

The raven-haired mage shielded his head from the ice bird with his hands and replied, "I just believed in Ur's words. She told me to go visit western countries… Fairy Tail is where I wound up." Gray said as he shook off the remains of ice bird from himself. "She was right; there are some very strong mages out there. I couldn't believe my eyes. Take these two for example – they may be the oddest nutcases in the entire country, but their strength always will be the incentive for me to grow stronger." Gray spoke as Leon listened to him without much interest.

Suddenly, a powerful explosion from up there shook the whole pyramid, as a conformation of Gray's words.

"What's going on up there?!" Leon exclaimed but Gray continued to speak as if nothing happened:

"Once I asked our master about melting the ice… He told me that there is one method, but he refused to tell me about it, he said that melting the ice practically means killing Ur. Now that I think of it, Jii-san was probably talking about Moon Drip." Gray looked at his former co-pupil angrily, "I'm really disappointed to learn that my senior was about to do something that would kill Ur!"

"Whatever, I have lived for this day! Now that our teacher is dead, think carefully of how her left behind pupils can do something to surpass her?!" Leon shouted as he charged towards Gray and sent a wolf made of ice into his rival. "With Deliora! I will surpass Ur by defeating Deliora, which is the only thing she couldn't do!"

"Your aspiration is admirable, but you failed to notice that you chose the wrong path!" Gray exclaimed as he dodged the ice wolf "Someone so blind trying to surpass Ur?! You're a hundred years too early for that. Game over, try again!" With this angry shout Gray made a sword made of ice… and, surprisingly, sliced Leon's body in half. _'What the?!'_ Gray thought as Leon's body turned into ice and crumbled. But suddenly he heard Leon's voice behind himself.

"**Aisu Meiku: Sunō Taigā!"** [Ice Make: Snow Tiger] A huge tiger made of ice charged at Gray, but Fairy Tail's mage quickly avoided it by jumping in the air as he cast his own spell: **"Aisu Meiku: Purizun"** [Ice Make: Prison]

Leon's tiger was entrapped in the ice cage. "Is that all you've got, Leon? Such a pitiful beast…"

"Ridiculous! I'll just smash your molding ma…" Leon said but became silent as he noticed that his tiger couldn't brake Gray's cage.

"One-handed molding is unbalanced," Gray said as he jumped down from his cage. "That's why you're incapable of using your full power at important times," he added as he summoned his magic. **"Aisu Meiku: Aisu Kyanon" **[Ice Make: Ice Cannon] An ice cannonball landed a direct hit into Leon and smashed him into the pyramid's wall, making another large hole in it. "That's what Ur taught us," Gray concluded.

"G…ray…" Leon croaked before he fell on the floor, utterly defeated.

"Fuh…" Gray sighed as blood spurted from the wound at his side "OUGH! I should've stopped the bleeding first…" Gray croaked as he fell on his knees and closed the wound with an ice 'patch'. Suddenly another devil's roar shook the entire building. "That roar… I can never forget… Deliora! I have to go there!"

* * *

(With Erza)

BOOM! CRASH! SMASH! Several explosions shook the building as Erza and Haru continued their battle.

'_Crap… She is strong…'_ Haru thought, eyeing Erza. '_But there is something strange about her… She's obviously powerful, yet she only uses simple spells… why?'_ Indeed, Erza only used her basic dragon slayer's spells in this battle, and Haru was unable to understand – what's she doing? Her combat tactics were remarkable, a dragon slayer with such experience definitely should be able to use some powerful magic, yet she uses only basic spells. _'Is she saving her magic power? Or… Or what?..._' Haru just couldn't think of a good reason for Erza's choice of spells.

Erza, on the other hand, had something to think about as well – during her fight she noticed that her sword spells, like 'Photon Slicer', consumes more magic power than they should. _'Damn, what is going on?! What's wrong with my magic?!' _Erza's ability of analyzing enemies' magic and adapt to it was one of her biggest advantages. However, when your own abilities become unreliable it's quite hard to adapt to anything. _'Okay, it seems I should try to avoid using sword spells… At least I can ex-equip armor…'_

(Resume Song: Powerwolf – Nochnoi Dozor, starts from 1:40)

**"Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito!"** [The Knight: Flight Armor] Erza shouted as a magic seal appeared, ex-equipping her flight armor to match Haru's increased speed. Extremely revealing, this armor could distract most opponents, especially now, when Erza's body was already wet from sweat. However, it did not seem to work on Haru for some reason. **"Seiryū no Shōgeki!"** [Star Dragon's Shock Blow] She charged toward Haru with her arm engulfed in plasma.

"**Karyū no Tekken!"** Haru rushed against her with his flame-covered fist ready to strike. Their fists met, producing powerful explosions and a shockwave, which threw them both away from each other.

"**Sonikku Kurou!"** [Sonic Claw] She dashed toward Haru and started to slash him from every direction at high speeds. Erza swirled around the fire dragon slayer, landing multiple blows on him. However, only a few actually reached the target – Haru dodged or blocked most of her attacks and those which reached him did little damage – just surface wounds.

"**Karyū no Saiga!" **[Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang] While she swirled around, Haru ignited his right hand and swung it in an arc, striking the knight-mage with his fingertips, leaving a flurry of flames in his wake. Erza managed to partially block this blow, yet she was thrown back.

"Okay, enough feeling each other out! It's time to get serious!" Haru exclaimed as fire engulfed his entire body.

'_This is bad…'_ Erza thought. This is where advantages of slayer's magic will be seeable in full scale. The dragon slayer can use a full arsenal of his abilities at any given time. Erza, on the other hand, should choose the right armor for each situation. For example – in her current armor set she can move even faster than Haru, but her attacks are weak. And if she'll ex-equip her 'Purgatory Armor', he'll easily outrun her with his 'Fire Drive' active. _'Crap! What shall I do?!'_

"**Karyū no Nensō!"** Haru hurled another blazing spear toward Erza, making her to leap aside. The spear hit the wall and exploded, producing a more powerful shockwave than before since now it was improved by the 'Drive' spell. Erza was dazed by the shockwave and Haru used it as an advantage as he slammed his burning fist right into her face, **"Karyū no Tekken!"** He sent her crashing into the nearest wall. She had no time to recover, as Haru, with his body still engulfed in flames, launched another attack, **"Karyū no Kenkaku!"** [Fire Dragon's Sword Horn]

Erza noticed the attack but even with her flight armor equipped she was not fast enough to avoid it. Haru hit her with a powerful headbutt and then sent her flying up in the air with a pillar of fire produced from his body. Erza's body crashed through the ceiling and flew outside as Haru followed her. As she began to fall down he jumped up to her and used one of his most powerful spells: **"Metsuryū Ōgi: Guren Kajintsui!" **[Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Fire God Hammer] Haru made a huge hammer, composed of twisting orange flames and smashed Erza with its peen. The scarlet haired girl crashed into the platform's floor with huge force. She was not knocked out yet, but the battle was over.

Erza tried to stand up but her limbs refused to move as she lay face down. _'He is… too strong…'_ She thought as her sight went dark. _'Natsu… I'm sorry…'_ was her last thought before she lost consciousness. This was the second time in her life she fought against slayer's magic… and the second time she lost.

(End song)

* * *

(Few minutes earlier, With Natsu)

'_Damn… the demon is almost free! Where is everybody?!'_ Natsu thought as he stood near Deliora on the large stone. Only the demon's knees and feet were still encased in the ice, one more minute and the ice will be completely gone.

"Ur…" Gray said sorrowfully as he touched the water that was an ice just a few minutes ago.

"Gray? At last, what took you so long? I assume Leon has been defeated? Ah, no matter, get here," Natsu pointed at the stone where he stood. "Erza is not here yet so you'll be my witness to confirm that I destroyed the demon with one blow so I could win our bet."

"Natsu, stop it," Gray replied wearily. "No one can destroy Deliora with one blow!"

"Shut up and drag your pathetic ass here, I'll take care of the rest," Natsu ordered crossly.

"It's… Impossible for you… guys… let me… surpass Ur… I…" Leon croaked as he was crawling toward the demon. "We finally meet… Deliora…" Some insane smile was on Leon's face.

"Gray, why's he still able to move?" Natsu asked.

"He's stubborn…" Gray replied, scratching his hair.

"Ur… the only monster… you couldn't defeat," Leon stuttered as he remembered how he became Ur's pupil. "I will… defeat it… with my own hands… right now… I will surpass you… now…" Leon almost stood up when Gray struck him in the back.

"That's enough Leon," Gray said before addressing the god slayer. "All right Natsu – do whatever you want to do, if you really know how to defeat it – do it."

"All right, as you wish!" Natsu replied with a cheerful smile, as he at last could do something that he had wanted to do for quite some time. At this moment the last pieces of ice turned into water and the demon became completely free. It let out a deafening roar and raised his arms.

Natsu turned toward Deliora and crossed his arms on his chest. "Mother! Lend me your aid to vanquish this evil! **Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Manjinyō!"** [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Ten Thousand Blades Dance] Natsu created a legion of energy blades and launched them into the demon. Blades started to swirl around Deliora, slicing his body. A few seconds later they all exploded, partially destroying Deliora's body. The remains quickly started to crumble and soon the huge demon turned into dust.

"NO WAY!" Gray yelled in shock, "How's that possible?! How did you do this?!"

"Actually, I didn't do anything," Natsu replied with a smile. "Well, except for a good show."

"Deliora… was long dead…" Leon cried in despair. "For ten years… Deliora was subverted in the ice… and we were looking at its final moments…"

"He is right," Natsu confirmed as Gray turned to him. "The ice drained almost all **Seikatsu Mahō** [Living Magic] from this demon, it was just an empty sheath. I could do nothing at all - it would crumble by itself."

"I'm no match… I can't surpass Ur," Leon lay face down, still crying.

"Your teacher… Ur, right – she was really cool." Natsu remember her name – the best confirmation that he respects her now.

'_I will seal your darkness…' _Ur's word popped up in Gray's mind as he began to shed tears too. "Thank you so much… Teacher…" But then he turned to the god slayer, "Natsu! You knew it all along, didn't you?!"

"Yep." Natsu grinned. "I felt that there was almost no living magic left in the demon, so…"

"You're an asshole! Why didn't you tell us?! We could have saved Ur!" Gray yelled. "They would lose their reason to melt the ice!"

"Easy, easy Gray," Natsu replied. "Do you seriously think they would have believed me?"

Gray looked at Leon crying on the ground. "Probably not…" Gray had to admit, "But we could have tried!"

"We could have, but, I think that would be the wrong thing to do," Natsu replied calmly, "Now she's free."

"What do you mean?" Gray asked in confusion.

"Who said that Ur died? I still can see her soul in this water, by the way, move your legs out of it," Natsu noted.

"Gah!" Gray jumped out of water. "I'm sorry, teacher, sorry!" Gray could swear he heard something like a female's laugh in the splash of water.

Natsu saluted the water. "Well done, Mrs. Ur. I think there is no reason for you to stay here, **Senjin no Bakusō!**" Natsu hurled his crimson spear and made a hole in the cave's wall to let Ur's water merge with the sea.

'_Farewell, teacher…'_ Gray thought as he watched the water streaming away into the sea.

"All right, Gray, let's go find Erza, I bet she's already waiting for us." Natsu said and headed toward the chamber's exit.

* * *

(With Erza and Haru)

"Not bad…" Haru said as he came close to Erza's body. "She really was quite tough… Zalty was right when he spoke highly of her… Nevertheless, when I became serious she lost pretty quickly…" Haru continued to speak to himself as he headed to take ropes that he prepared earlier. "Strange girl. She has plenty of magic power but her spells are simple… weird… maybe she's sick or something?" Haru still tried to think out an explanation for the strange 'skewness' in Erza's abilities.

Erza's **Za Naito **magic wore off and she lay in her casual clothes now. He took the ropes and now returned to the knight-mage's body to tie her up. "Ah, whatever, at least I'll have a chance to speak with another dragon slayer!" But when Haru leaned down to tie up Erza he got her boot slammed into his face.

(Fairy Tail OST – Dragon Slayer)

"PAW OVER A GIRL WHILE SHE IS UNCONSCIOUS?" Erza asked as Haru was smashed into the nearest column by the force of her blow. Erza spoke in a loud, but low, female's voice as her eyes were glowing with white light.

"What the?!" Haru exclaimed in shock. "You were unconscious just a few seconds ago!"

"THINK OF IT AS ROUND TWO, BOY. YOU WANTED IT SERIOUS? YOU'LL GET IT! **Seikō Kudō!"** [Starlight Drive] An aura of white, glimmering light engulfed Erza's body and she dashed toward Haru.

"**Kaen Kudō!"** Haru once again used his 'Drive' spell to increase his speed and strength, however, for some reason Erza easily outmatched him in terms of speed. **"Seiryū no Kudatsume!" **[Star Dragon's Crushing Claw] Erza slammed her plasma-enhanced feet into Haru's chin, launching him into the air. "SO, YOU CAN USE A 'DRIVE' SPELL… IMPRESSIVE, BUT IT SEEMS YOU STILL HAVE TO LEARN ABOUT ITS FULL CAPABILITIES," Erza noted calmly.

Haru rolled in the air and managed to land on his feet. Erza stood still, simply waiting for his next move. "Haru! What's going on?!" Happy's voice called out for his friend as a blue winged cat appeared on the horizon.

"Happy, stay clear! It's dangerous here!" Haru warned his partner before addressing Erza. "I don't know what's going on, but I'll just knock you out again!" Haru shouted as fire engulfed his body. **"Karyū no Kenkaku!"**

The silver-haired boy launched another attack and again tried to hit Erza with a powerful headbutt, but this time, when he approached Erza simply grabbed his head with her right hand and smashed him into the floor face down. "THIS WON'T WORK," she said simply. "C'MON, SHOW ME YOUR FINISHING MOVE."

'_How's that possible?! She stopped my attack with single hand?!'_ Haru thought, eyeing Erza, who stood before him with a calm smile. "RRRRAAAAHHH! I won't lose!" Haru roared as he engulfed his arms in flame and started to cast his spell. Erza extended her plasma-covered arms forward and began to do the same:

**Haru: **_With a flame on the right hand..._

_And a flame on the left hand..._

_When you combine the flames together..._

**Erza:** _Night sky of the south…_

_Night sky of the north…_

_Come to my aid, fulfill my wish…_

_Falling star I want to unleash…_

**Haru: Karyū no Kōen!** [Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame]

**Erza: Seiryū no Keishō!** [Star Dragon's Comet]

Haru created a huge fireball and directed it at Erza as she made a huge shining sphere of pure plasma and launched it at Haru. Their spells clashed, creating a powerful blastwave that wiped out all objects, which were on the pyramid's top platform. Straining all his powers, Haru struggled against Erza, who used only her left hand to support her spell, yet he was slowly pushed back. "YOU HAVE SO MUCH TRAINING AHEAD OF YOU, BOY," Erza noted as Haru's flame dried out and he was struck by Erza's comet and a powerful explosion launched him into the air.

"ALL RIGHT, IT WAS NICE TO WARM UP A BIT, BUT NOW IT'S TIME TO FINISH THIS," Erza stated as she raised her hands to the skies, **"Metsuryū Ōgi: Tengoku ****Shōgiken****!"** [Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Heaven's Kingdom: Sword of Justice] The rays of star light formed a huge sword made of pure light, in the sky, right above Haru. The sword was at least 35 meters in length. A second later a sword crashed into Haru, while he was still in mid-air, smashing him into the pyramid. A powerful blow shook the entire building as a light sword broke a huge hole through several floors, down to the pyramid's bottom levels. Haru lay at the bottom of the hole. He was knocked out and utterly defeated.

(End Song)

"Haru!" Happy cried as he desperately rushed to the newly-made hole to check his best friend, he was afraid of the worst.

"DON'T WORRY LITTLE ONE, HE'S ALIVE…" Erza said, relatively silently.

"I'll be damned…" Gray whispered in shock. He and Natsu arrived there just in time to witness how Erza's comet blasted Haru in the air and light sword finished the job.

"_Metsuryū Ōgi…_" Natsu mumbled in disbelief. "It usually takes months to learn such a spell, and this sword spell was flawless… How?"

"WELL WELL… IF IT ISN'T NATSU DRAGNEEL COME TO HONOR US WITH HIS PRESENCE?" Erza still spoke with this loud, low voice, which Natsu recognized – it was the voice of the Dragon Queen.

"An… Andromeda? What's going on?" Natsu asked uncertain what it is.

She ignored his question, "DRAGNEEL, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, JUST YESTERDAY YOU SWORN TO ME THAT YOU'LL PROTECT THIS WOMAN, DIDN'T YOU?"

"Y-yes, I did…" Natsu answered uncertainly as the Andromeda-controlled Erza moved toward him, making the god slayer move backwards, her eyes still glowing with bright white light.

"YET TODAY YOU LET HER FIGHT ALONE AGAINST A FULL-FLEDGED DRAGON SLAYER?" she asked, still moving toward Natsu, who tried to figure out what she meant. "C'MON, FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY, YOU'RE A SUPPOSED-TO-BE-GENIUS, AREN'T YOU?" Her speech was different from yesterday's – back then she was quite polite, but now she seemed very angry.

"W-wait… you wanna say… she… she lost?!" Natsu asked in shock as he found himself pressed to the platform's edge. He was taller than Erza, but right now he was felt very small.

"SURPRISED, ARE WE?" she asked with irony, "WHAT'S WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU LET THE GIRL WITH YET UNSTABLE MAGIC TAKE CARE OF HERSELF?"

Natsu twitched as if he got a slap in his face when he heard that. She was right, he became careless – he not only forgot to take into calculation that her body didn't yet adapt to her new being, he also underestimated Haru, but, worst of all, he was hanging around an already dead demon for twenty minutes and made a show with it, while Erza fought with Haru.

Natsu fell on his knees, with his face down, looking to the floor. He felt greatly ashamed. He had really disgraced himself this time. Maybe not directly, but he broke his promise twice and almost lost his beloved (he did not know that Haru actually had no intentions to kill Erza). "I'm… I'm sorry… I…" He tried to say something but the dragon-controlled Erza interrupted him as she grabbed him by the collar and made him stand as if he weighed nothing.

"SILENCE! DON'T YOU DARE PITY YOURSELF!" The dragon-Erza roared at him. "LISTEN TO ME! SHE'S STRONG, YOU DON'T NEED TO FOLLOW HER EVERYWHERE LIKE A FAITHFUL DOG. BUT SHE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT… AND THIS GREY SUBSTANCE INSIDE YOUR SKULL, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE BRILLIANT, USE IT ON OCCASION!" She left his collar and turned away. "THIS GIRL, ERZA… SHE IS VERY SPECIAL… SHE DOES NOT SIMPLY LOVE YOU, SHE IDOLIZES YOU – YOU ARE HER WHOLE WORLD! IT'S IN HER NATURE, SHE CAN'T DO IT OTHERWISE. SHE DEVOTED HER ENTIRE SELF TO YOU..." Suddenly Erza turned back to Natsu "...SO KEEP HER SAFE, YOU MORON!"

From unexpectedness Natsu almost fell from the pyramid's edge but the Dragon-Erza again grabbed him by his collar. "IF I HAVE TO EMERGE EVER AGAIN TO SAVE HER INSTEAD OF YOU – YOU WILL REGRET IT. ARE WE CLEAR!?" The reason for her anger was clear – there is no warranty that she'll be fast enough to emerge next time, so there should be no next time.

"Crystal clear, ma'am!" Natsu saluted immediately. She defeated Haru almost effortlessly, and his power is comparable to Natsu's, so she actually was quite scary.

"GOOD. AND DON'T BE TOO HARSH WITH THIS BOY, HE DIDN'T TRY TO KILL HER, HE JUST WANTED TO TALK…" She pointed at Haru who appeared from the hole. He was carried by Happy. The fire dragon slayer himself was still out completely. Then she turned back to the god slayer, examining him carefully. "ALL RIGHT, I HAVE TO GO… BUT BEFORE I RETURN TO MY SLEEP…" Suddenly she pulled Natsu to herself and kissed him on the lips. The kiss was about fifteen seconds long, then she broke their kiss and looked back at the stunned Natsu, "NO, I CAN'T UNDERSTAND THIS. I FELT NOTHING SPECIAL, WHY DO YOU HUMANS ENJOY IT SO MUCH?" As she said this, the white glow inside her eyes faded and she started to fall. Natsu was so shocked that he barely managed to catch Erza's body before it fell on the stone floor.

* * *

Island of Galuna, Temple of the Moon, Year X784, July 15, 10:00 PM.

The dumb show lasted for about five minutes. Natsu stood still with Erza in his arms. He was still stunned by recent events. Gray, who was there all this time (he didn't dare move), still stood with his jaw dropped on the floor. At last Natsu gathered enough of his thoughts to say something: "Damn, I haven't been scolded like that since I was eleven… She has so much in common with my mother… Gray, I hope I don't need to remind you that you promised to keep the details about Erza being the dragon slayer secret for now? Which means you shouldn't talk about this scene with anyone, too."

"Yeah, yeah…" Gray answered aversely as he immediately regretted this promise. Natsu was scolded like a naughty schoolboy and Gray can't tell anybody?! It's just a torment, he never saw Natsu so confused… even scared a bit. "Natsu, can you at least explain to me – what the hell was that?! What happened with her?"

Natsu looked at Gray. The Ice mage revealed many secrets about himself today… In the end, Natsu decided that he could spare one in return. He gave him the short version of yesterday's events, and at the end of the story Gray's jaw again dropped to the floor. "With you guys things never get boring..." the Ice mage concluded as he and Natsu, with Erza in his arms, were walking down to the temple's exit.

"Life is more interesting that way, don't you think?" the god slayer asked in return. Gray didn't answered since it was quite a controversial statement. "However, Gray, keep this quiet, even from Lucy and especially from Sin," the god slayer asked. Gray had no objections.

Natsu decided to stop at the little cove and wait for Erza to regain consciousness before returning to the village. He placed his beloved on the sand, which was still warm, leaning her back to the large stone, which was still warm as well.

A few minutes later Erza opened her eyes. _'Huh? Where am I?'_ She looked around. There was no Haru, no flames and no temple. She was sitting on warm sand, on the shore. Just a few clouds were in the sky and the stars were very bright tonight. The surf's rustle was so peaceful... _'Oh… no… no… please no… don't tell me… there is so many things yet I have to do! Please, I wasn't even married!'_ She jumped to her feet, looked around, and noticed Natsu and Gray standing near the sea, about fifteen meters away from her, as they were discussing something. It seems they stepped away to not bother Erza with their talking. "Natsu!" she called out for her fiancé.

"Erza?" Natsu turned around and came closer. "What's wrong?" He asked as he saw her scared face.

"Never do anything like that again! I thought I died!" She demanded.

"What?! Why? What happened?" Natsu asked in surprise.

"You tell me. I was on the top platform of the temple when that guy knocked me out with his spell and now I'm suddenly here… and everything's so peaceful around here… and I thought… I…" She stuttered but Natsu sealed her lips with his, preventing her from further speaking.

"I love you…" He whispered into her ear. "Sorry for scaring you… but if this is the last thing that you remember, it means… you didn't remember anything that happened atop of the temple…"

"What happened atop of the temple?" She wondered.

"Guys! Is everything all right?" Lucy's voice called out from above as she was carried by Sin.

"Don't tell me that we missed everything?!" Sin asked as he dropped Lucy from two meters height and she fell on the sand.

"Yep, sorry guys," Natsu replied, ignoring Lucy's curses toward Sin. "Bad guys are defeated and Deliora has been dealt with. Oh, by the way!..." Natsu suddenly remembered something. "Gray is my witness – I destroyed the demon with one blow, so it means that as soon as we're be back home we're going for shopping." He winked at Erza.

"Is it true, Gray?" she asked the Ice Wizard.

"Yeah, yeah – he used one of his most powerful spells to kill an already dead demon – nice show…" Gray grumbled.

"WHAT?!" Erza, Sin and Lucy exclaimed simultaneously as they heard the words 'already dead demon.'

"Ur's ice drained Deliora's life long ago, there was just an empty shell," Gray explained.

"You're just intolerable…" Erza said, turning to Natsu. "You knew it all along, didn't you?"

"Yep," Natsu grinned.

"Oh my Lord, why… why I can't…" Erza paused, thinking what it was she actually can't as Natsu finished her sentence instead:

"…can't imagine your life without me?" He said, embracing her.

"Yes…" she sighed "…Ouch! Ouch, ouch, ouch… easy with that body! It's aching all over!" the scarlet-haired mage exclaimed when Natsu tried to tighten his embrace.

"Sorry…" He smiled as their friends were watching this cute scene with mixed emotions, Lucy with envy and Gray and Sin with annoyance.

"Okay guys, I think we should head back to the village – let's pack our stuff so tomorrow we can head home." Gray decided to break this little romantic scene.

"Pack our stuff?" Erza asked as some familiar metallic notes suddenly appeared in her voice. "You want to leave with an unfinished mission?"

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy, does this moon look normal to you?" Natsu pointed upward as a cloud moved aside, revealing the creepy purple moon.

"But… but… If Deliora's body has been destroyed… And so the curse on the village should be…" the blonde stuttered.

"Yeah, I too thought that Zeref's demon was linked to the curse, but I was wrong. Deliora had nothing to do with the course, just as Erza suggested from the very beginning. She was right and we were wrong guys," Natsu said with smile as Erza quickly perked up.

"That phenomenon that you call the curse wasn't because of Deliora. It isn't a curse at all," Erza started to explain her opinion. "Moon Drip's enormous magic power harmed the people. There's no way this situation will change because the demon's body collapsed…Ouch!" She stumbled a little.

"Shall I pick you up?" Natsu suggested as he took her hand.

"No, thanks, but it aches more when my limbs aren't moving…" Erza sighed in answer.

"Maybe he will spill some light on the situation?" Gray suggested as he pointed at the lonely figure that was slowly walking along the shore. That was Leon.

"Leon!" Gray called for his old co-pupil "What was your relationships with the locals?"

"Neither," Leon replied with a grim face.

"Excuse me?" Natsu replied.

"But if you guys don't know about it, how will we break the curse?" Lucy asked.

"We've known about the existence of the village ever since we came to this island three years ago," Leon explained, "Though, we didn't interfere with the villagers at all. They've never visited us, either."

"Never? For three years?" Erza clarified.

"Come to think of it, the light of moon drip should've shone down on the ruins every night. It's weird that they've never investigated the place." Lucy thought aloud as she rubbed her chin with her thumb and index fingers.

"I have some doubts about the Moon Drip's influences on a human's body." Leon said, looking into the sea.

"Agreed," Natsu said as he turned to his fiancé, "They've been basked in the same light for three years, yet they're normal… well, their bodies I mean."

"That's true!" Lucy gasped.

"Be careful, they're hiding something," Leon said as he sat on a large stone and turned to the sea. "Well… I guess from here on it's the guild's job, right?"

"You guess?" Natsu hissed, warming up his palms, the phrase managed to infuriate him. "You made all this mess and now you're guessing? I'll rip you to shreds… **Metsujin Ōgi**_…_ Hey!" Erza gave him a good slap on the back of his head, "I was just joking!"

"I don't believe you. C'mon Natsu, let's go to the village," she said as she grabbed his hand and started to pull him toward the village along the shore.

"You say 'let's go', but how do we break the curse?" Sin asked.

"No idea," Erza replied.

"Oh my…" Lucy sighed as they walked away, while Gray remained at the cove, staring at Leon.

"What are you looking at?" Leon asked as he noticed Gray's gaze.

"You should join a guild. You'll have new comrades and rivals," Gray replied, "I'm sure you'll find a new goal, just as I did, long ago…"

"R…ridiculous… Just go already…" Leon said, turning away.

* * *

Island of Galuna, somewhere at the shore, Year X784, July 15, 10:45 PM.

Team Natsu was walking toward the village; Natsu and Erza were ahead and the others were two dozen meters behind.

"Amazing… She is really that good?" Erza wondered as Natsu explained to her the events that happened atop of the temple (he, however, omitted the details about him being scolded …and about the kiss, just in case).

"Yeah… She used your body and your magic, but she possessed the knowledge of the millennia… Poor bastard never had a chance." Natsu had seen only the last few seconds of the battle but that was enough to make an estimate. "Her timings were perfect, spells were flawless, and not a single ethernano was wasted for nothing. Only other person, known to me, who can do such a perfect spellcasting, is my mother."

"Nice…" Erza mumbled, trying to imagine how it was.

"No kidding. To be honest I think that even Gildarts could get his ass kicked…" Natsu admitted.

"Wow!" Erza even whistled a little, to think that she could defeat Gildarts…

"Yeah, but we have so much training ahead of us to learn such arts of magic… and I'm so glad that we'll be learning this together." Natsu smiled to his soon-to-be wife.

"Me too…" Erza replied as she clenched Natsu's arm tighter.

At the same time Gray gave to Lucy and Sin a short version of recent events. And while the Stellar Mage and Lil Dragon were sorting things out, Gray wondered what happened to them.

"By the way guys, where have you two been all this time?" the Ice mage asked, interrupting the arguing.

"Our princess got her skirt ripped apart during the battle, and because she's wearing kinky lingerie…" Lucy was freaked out but Sin ignored her, "…she asked me to bring her back to the village so she could 'quickly change clothes'. And for half an hour she rummaged through her luggage, choosing clothes."

"It would've been much faster if you were not hanging over my head!" Lucy yelled at the boney dragon. "And stop staring at me already!" She turned to Gray who was looking at her ass as if he tried to look through her skirt to evaluate the kinkiness of her underwear.

"Uh, sorry…" Gray came back to his senses and urgently turned away.

* * *

Island of Galuna, Local village, Year X784, July 15, 11:15 PM.

As soon as Team Natsu entered the village, the mayor rushed to them. "Mages! Please do tell me… when will you destroy the moon for us?! Hogaaah!"

"Heeeek!" Lucy yelped from unexpectedness as she jerked back from Moka.

"Oh, man… come on…" Natsu rolled his eyes.

"It's easy to destroy the moon…" Erza said calmly as she worked herself free from Natsu's embrace and stepped toward the Mayor.

"Heh… She's saying something that outrageous like it's nothing…" Gray said with a sweatdrop as Lucy trembled a little.

"That's Erza for you…" Sin agreed.

"But before that, I want to confirm something," the scarlet-haired girl continued to speak to the mayor, "Would you mind getting everyone together?"

"What's she doing?" Gray asked Natsu.

"No idea," the god slayer replied, "But she has something on her mind…"

* * *

Island of Galuna, Local village, Year X784, July 15, 11:25 PM.

As all villagers gathered near the village's gate, Erza came forward and started to speak. "Let me get this straight. You all gained this appearance after that purple moon appeared. Is that right?" She asked.

"Hogah… To be exact, we turn into this appearance only when the moon is out…" the Mayor clarified.

"From your story, that started three years ago," Erza continued as she turned aside and started to walk with her eyes closed, calculating something in her mind.

"Yes… that sounds right…" One of the villagers confirmed as Natsu looked at the creepy violet moon.

"But… the Moon Drip ritual has been held daily for three years on this island…" At the last moment Natsu noticed that she was going straight to the pit that Lucy dug up to entrap Leon's crew. He dashed toward her, lifted her by armpits and turned around, making her walk in the opposite direction. She continued to walk and speak as if nothing happened. "…You should've been seeing a ray of light at the ruins every day…"

"Lucy, you'll get rid of this pit _now_ or I'll bury you there alive!" Natsu growled.

"Heeek!" Lucy yelped as Erza continued her speech:

"…meaning, that's the most suspicious place on the island…"

"Uwah… She continues talking as if nothing happened…" One of the villagers noted.

"Such verve…" Another agreed as Lucy summoned Virgo and ordered her to take care of pitfall.

"…why didn't you investigate it?" the scarlet-haired witch stopped and asked.

The villagers started to look at each other and murmur between themselves. "T-that's because… It's a tradition not to go anywhere close to those ruins… It's a forbidden place for us…" the Mayor answered at last.

"But… the situation was very serious, wasn't it? You had some casualties, and seeing how expensive the reward is…" Lucy noted as Virgo continued to bury the pitfall.

The villagers continued to murmur between each other as Erza asked, "Can you tell us the truth?" Her large, clear eyes were looking straight at the Mayor.

Moka hesitated for a few seconds before he spoke out, "To tell you the truth… we don't really know what's going on, either… Honestly, we tried to investigate the ruins many times. We are peaceful people, yet everyone took a bunch of unfamiliar weapons, I arranged my sideburns… and we headed to the ruins many times." The mayor made a short pause before continuing his tale. "But we couldn't get close to it. We noticed that… even if we walked straight toward the ruins, we wound up in front of the village gates. We just cannot get close to the ruins!" Moka exclaimed at the end.

Lucy and Gray's eyes widened in amazement as they listened mayor's story. Sin scratched his skull as Natsu's face lit up with understanding. "You're brilliant…" He whispered silently so only Erza's dragon ears could hear it as she winked to him in return. Natsu, however, didn't say anything else – it was her show, her victory. Besides, he understood _what_ happened to the villagers but not _why_ it happened. _'So, this is why their souls seems strange to me – they never were humans in the first place. But they think the opposite… This light is harmless for us… for humans… but for them… Interesting… what's with this light… it's not in the air…'_

"What do you mean? You can't approach it?" Lucy wondered.

"We would even get inside of it, no sweat…" Gray noted.

"We kept it silent because you wouldn't believe such a story!" one of the villagers exclaimed.

"But it's true! We tried to go to the ruins many times!" another villager added.

"None of the villagers were able to get there!" the third one said.

"As I thought…" Erza nodded.

"Eh?" Lucy wondered.

"Amazing, that Titania…" Ultear said. She was inside Deliora's chamber – she came to investigate the demon's remains, but at the same time she was watching over the village through surveillance lacrima.

"Natsu, c'mon, it's time for you to work," Erza said as she headed to the watchtower. "Let's destroy the moon."

"EEEEHHH?!" Lucy, Gray and Sin yelled in shock.

Natsu looked at his fiancé in surprise, "What the hell are you talking about?!" He whispered, this was unexpected.

"Just play along," she whispered back. "We'll destroy the moon now," she said to the villagers, "And get everyone back to normal."

The villagers looked at the moon in excitement

"We're gonna see the moon get destroyed… right in front of our eyes."

"Yeah!"

"We'll finally be back to normal"

"No, it's not possible…" Gray and Lucy said simultaneously.

"Madness…" Sin murmured.

"Okay Natsu, I need you to launch your missile into the moon, and I'll add a bit of star magic to empower it," Erza said as they climbed to watchtower.

Natsu was stunned a little, initially he thought that she was joking, but she seemed serious. "Erza, listen. We can't destroy the moon… Not even my mother can do this – it's massive and far away. It's 363,295 kilometers away from the earth in perigee, or 1.2e-8 parsec, if you want, and now it's probably even farther. You may be a village girl but you're going overboard!" Natsu said and got a well-deserved slap on the back of his head.

"Natsu, shut up and do as I said!" Erza demanded angrily. This definition of his, 'village girl,' actually hurt her pride a bit – she was quite educated, especially for a regular human.

"All right, all right…" Natsu replied, rolling his eyes.

"What's going on up there…" Gray mumbled…

"Don't tell me they're really gonna break the moon…" Both she and Gray were watching Natsu and Erza in awe.

"**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!"** [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath] Natsu shouted, creating a huge crimson missile. Erza made two streams of her star magic and made them wrap around Natsu's creation as Natsu launched his missile toward the moon. When it was launched, the missile elicited a shockwave that ravaged the watchtower and roofs of several village's shacks.

"You two just wanted to destroy something!" Lucy yelled as everyone was looking on in awe as the crimson shell was making its way to the sky, twisting the space around itself.

BOOM! A Powerful, bright explosion lit up the skies to the very horizon.

"NO WAAAAY!" Lucy and Gray both were freaked out.

"For real? …" Natsu, too, was surprised as he finally understood what was wrong with the moon, or rather, with the sky…

"So, what are you gonna say now, city boy? Not bad for a village girl, is it?" Erza asked with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, okay… I'm sorry…" Natsu replied in a pathetic voice as he fell on his knees and buried his face into her abdomen, kissing her belly-button through her shirt. Erza stood looking at him sternly before he looked back at her. "Please forgive me…" Natsu added as he managed to make so innocent a face with puppy eyes that her anger disappeared in an instant.

Erza made a deep breath as she placed her palms on his head and pressed him to herself. "You my dear little fool…" She said with as soft smile, granting him forgiveness that he begged for, as usual. "Never call me that again," she added.

"Okay, won't happen again. I didn't think that it was so offensive to you," Natsu said as he rose to his feet and looked into her eyes. "However, Erza, I want to remind you – I don't care from where you actually came from – was it city or village, for me – you came from the sky…"

As smoke from the explosion in the sky dispersed, everyone was able to see something like huge violet dome in the sky with a huge hole in it. The dome continued to crumble, as all were able to see the moon, which was now of normal color.

"Eh?!"

"The moon!"

"This is…"

"The moon didn't break, but the sky did…" Lucy asked as she tried to touch the violet dust that was falling from the sky. She, as everyone else, was looking at the welkin in amazement, except for Natsu, who was bound by very passionate kiss.

"…mmm, say it again…" Erza requested as she released Natsu's lips.

"You are my sky queen," Natsu did as she asked. "Or rather, star queen." A woman falls in love through her ears, Erza wasn't exception from this rule.

"Hey guys, what is this?" Sin asked the slayers, who just jumped down from what remained of the watchtower.

"This island was covered by an evil lens," Erza started to explain.

"A lens?" Gray asked.

"Think of it as exhaust fumes produced by the Moon Drip. They crystalized and created a lens in the sky. That's why the moon looked violet," the dragon-knight clarified.

While they were talking, all the villagers, who now were bathing in pure, uncorrupted light of the moon, began to shine.

"Whoa, pretty!" Lucy exclaimed.

"The evil lens is broken and now this island will gain its original shine once again," Erza noted.

However, when the shining faded away, the villagers remained in their demonic forms.

"Huh?"

"Um?"

"Ah?"

"But… they won't turn back to normal…?" Gray asked with a sweatdrop.

"Oh no…" Sin scratched his skull.

"They are already in their normal forms," Natsu said before he turned to Erza and kissed the top of her head. "Your cleverness is very sexy, you know?"

"The evil lens affected their memory, not their appearance," the scarlet-haired witch nodded as the villagers were looking at each other in confusion.

"Their memory?" Sin asked again.

"Yep, 'we become demons at night…' wrong thoughts like that," she replied.

"N-N-No way!" Lucy exclaimed, trembling in shock.

"That's how it is," Erza confirmed. "They were demons to begin with."

"F-For real?!" Shocked Gray cried looking closely at one of the islanders.

"We are still a little confused…" a villager replied.

"What the…" Natsu suddenly noticed that Sherry, Yuka and Toby were sitting on the bench near one of the villages shacks, untied. Natsu touched Erza's shoulder, gaining her attention and nodded toward Leon's crew.

When the trio noticed the slayer's approach they became nervous, but Natsu had no intentions to harm them. "Relax you three, I just want to talk," Natsu said as he and Erza moved in close.

"The villagers… they untied us… and even bandaged our wounds…" Toby said shamefaced. Natsu noticed that Sherry's face and right leg, Yuka's left leg, right arm and palm, and Toby's chest were bandaged.

"You are Deliora's victims, aren't you?" Natsu asked as Erza took his hand. His perception about humans was as good as hers about the environment.

"Yes…" Yuka answered. "It killed our families. That's why we were cooperating with Leon, we were hoping that he would defeat Deliora and surely avenge us…"

"I figured that out. It doesn't make you non-idiots of course, but at least you had some reason to do what you were trying to do…" the god slayer said.

"But we failed to notice that in our pursuit of revenge we ourselves became no better than Deliora, we forgot about…love" Sherry admitted, looking to the floor.

"Well, the demon is dead. And it was, long ago," Erza informed them.

"Yeah, we know. Happy told us," Yuka replied.

"Who?" Natsu asked.

"Haru's winged cat," Sherry explained, "He came here about half an hour before your arrival and offered to rescue us. Not sure why, he never cared about any of us before… or about love."

"He also got a good lesson today," Natsu smirked.

"AAAAAAAAAA! A GHOST!" Suddenly they all heard Lucy's terrified scream. It seems Bobo, the sailor who brought them to this island, arrived in the village.

"She's hopeless…" Erza shook her head.

"Yeah, this girl is quite stupid," Yuka agreed.

Before anyone, even Erza, could react, Heavenly Blossom glinted in the air and Yuka's brows were sliced off. "Man, keep your tongue to yourself. She's still the nakama from our guild – we can call her stupid, but you can't," Natsu said as if nothing happened as his sword was sucked into his left hand.

Erza face-palmed, Toby was speechless, Yuka was stunned as he carefully touched the places where his brows once were, and Sherry mumbled something. Natsu didn't heard it, but Erza did.

"Oh, really?" the dragon slayer asked, sending the pink-haired girl her signature glare. "You know – I'm going to marry him, so if you don't want your pigtails to share the fate of his brows – keep your mouth shut." Sherry gulped but Erza didn't say anything more.

"What'd she say?" Natsu asked as his eyes blazed with crimson light.

"Nothing important," Erza replied as she began to pull him toward the villagers, who were now soaring into the air one by one, enjoying Bobo's return.

"Did you see it?" Ultear asked Seigrain as she showed him the events in the village through her lacrima.

"Yeah… They did better than I expected," answered one of the Ten Wizard Saints. "Fairy Tail… I hope they won't get in our way…"

"I agree" Ultear replied.

* * *

Island of Galuna, Local village, Year X784, July 16, 00:00 AM.

To mark the end of the island's 'curse' and Bobo's return, the villagers arranged a huge 'demonic' feast. All were sitting along large tables (even Sherry, Yuka and Toby), enjoying the meal. However, when the feast was in full swing, Natsu and Erza simultaneously turned their heads toward village's gate. Natsu felt a magic aura and Erza heard the steps. The gates were open, so they saw a lonely figure that was toddling toward the village. It was Haru.

The slayers stood up and went to meet him. As they approached, they managed to take a good look at him. He was in bad shape – his head, chest, both arms and right leg were bandaged. He was toddling, leaning on homemade crutch.

"Wow…" Erza exclaimed as she examined Haru, "I did this?" she asked Natsu.

"Technically, yes," Natsu replied before turning to the silver-haired boy, "So?"

"May I take a seat?" he asked with a raucous voice, looking at the bench near the one of the villages shacks.

"Go ahead," Natsu smirked. It seemed speaking and walking was equally painful for the fire dragon slayer. "You are persistent, I give you that…" the god slayer added as Haru limped to the bench.

"Ouch… Oh… Ouu…" Haru moaned as he sat down.

"Okay, someone dropped a hint to me that you wanted to talk with my fiancé so desperately that you even started a fight with her," Natsu said. "Explain yourself."

"Not necessarily with her," Haru replied. "With either of you two. This is the first time I've met another dragon slayer, not to mention two of them at once. I wanted to ask – who taught you dragon slayer's magic."

"Well, let's start from the basics," Erza said. "First – Natsu is not a dragon slayer. I am, but he is not."

"I am **Sen no Metsujin Madōshi** [War God Slayer]," Natsu announced.

"God slayer?" Haru asked in amazement.

"Yes. Actually, it's just like with the dragon slayers. As well as Dragons, who are invulnerable to any type of magic except for dragon's magic, Gods are invulnerable to any type of magic except for god's magic. The person who learned the god's magic becomes a god slayer," Natsu explained. "I learned my magic from my mother – supreme war goddess Morrigan," he added with pride.

"And I wasn't taught by anyone," Erza continued Natsu's story. "There is a way to literally implant some dragon powers into a person, and this is how I got my dragon slayer magic. I'm kinda like an artificial dragon slayer." She decided to skip the details about the dragon queen's soul – she hadn't gotten used to it herself yet.

Haru had taken some time to stomach the information he just received, "Okay, I think I got it…" He concluded.

"Who taught you to dragon slayer magic?" Erza asked.

"Igneel. Fire dragon Igneel," Haru replied.

"A real dragon?" Natsu inquired and Haru nodded in answer.

'_WELL, THIS EXPLAINS A LOT. IT SEEMS MY OLD FRIEND RAISED UP THE SAME BUBBLEHEAD AS HE HIMSELF…'_ Suddenly Andromeda's voice sounded in Erza's head.

"Um?! What?!" Erza perplexedly looked around.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"No, nothing…" Erza shook her head.

"What happened to your mother?" Haru asked Natsu, he had seemingly lost his interest in Erza as soon as she admitted that she wasn't raised by a dragon.

"What do you mean?" Natsu wondered.

"Do you still live with her? Or did she leave you?" Haru clarified.

"Ah, this… We parted at my 13th birthday. She said that she taught me everything she could, gave me her sword and left," Natsu voiced a short version.

"Well, at least she said 'goodbye'," the silver-haired boy sighed, "Igneel simply disappeared at July 7, X777. This scarf is all that is left," He pointed at the scaled scarf on his neck, "I've been trying to find him since then…" Haru sounded disappointed; Erza appeared to be artificial and it seemed Natsu had no connections to dragons as well.

"Hmm… July 7, X777… _The day when times intersect…_" Natsu mumbled.

"You know something about it?" Haru asked.

"Only that the sun eclipse happened that day. In Fiore, every 7 years a sun eclipse happens. It happened nine days ago, but it was at night so no one saw it. July 7, X777 was one of these days too. In the old times these days were called 'The day when times intersect'," Natsu explained. "As of Igneel… Now when you reminded me, I think I've met this name in some books, but they are very old legends – I have no recent information about him… or any other dragon at all," the god slayer concluded.

"Damn…" Haru said with chagrin, "…I guess I got my ass kicked for nothing then."

"It's for your own good," Erza snorted, "However… Haru, right? Can you explain something? I know you were near the village yesterday, when Leon's crew attempted to use jelly, I saw you sitting on the tree. I thought you're going to attack us as well, but you just left after we dealt with that trio. Why were you here?" the dragon-mage asked.

"Ah, this…" Haru replied. "Actually, my shack is nearby. When I saw that rat approaching the village I understand that they were going to do something nasty, so I came to make sure that they wouldn't harm the villagers," the fire dragon slayer explained. "Actually, when I saw the jelly I intended to do almost the same thing that you did." He looked at Natsu. "But when you dealt with the jelly I understood that you could handle those louts yourself. You gave them a good trashing…"

"Violence solves everything…" Natsu noted.

At the beginning of the conversation, Erza was looking at Haru quite coldly, but when he answered her question, her attitude toward him became noticeably warmer. "Okay, I think we're done with the talking, c'mon," she said as she helped Haru stand up.

"Hey! What… Ouch! What are you doing?!" Haru asked in shock as Erza made him lean on her shoulder and headed toward the festive table.

"I think you should join the feast," Erza replied, actually she didn't give him any choice.

"But we were enemies!" Haru exclaimed.

"Man, just do as she says," Natsu advised to Haru, "And you too, little one." Natsu looked toward the tree near the village entrance. "You too can join the feast." The eyes of god noticed Happy (rather, his soul) on that tree. No doubt – he was worried about his friend so he was watching over him.

* * *

Whoopee lasted all night, during it Haru managed to establish friendly relationship with team Natsu… and Lucy became especially friendly toward him. She was hanging around him constantly, and expressed _very_ much sympathy about his wounds.

"Looks like someone just grew up a little…" Natsu smirked as Erza chuckled a little when they both noticed Lucy's behavior "…and these two definitely not," the god slayer added as he pointed at Sin and Happy, who were arguing about something for two hours straight.

"Poor Haru" Erza said, "He looks really disappointed because I wasn't raised by the dragon…" Erza noted.

"Yeah… I bet he was as disappointed as I was when you refused to make love on the roof of the Chaldean Cathedral…" Natsu replied.

"Hey! I can hear you!" Haru exclaimed in shock.

"We all can hear you!" Gray added with the same shocked expression.

"Quiet, Natsu!" Erza hissed, "I didn't refuse, I said 'after the wedding'!" she added with loud whisper.

"We can hear you!" All the villagers yelled in unison as they were freaked out.

"Hey! Where are your clothes!?" Haru asked as he jerked back from Gray when the Ice Mage suddenly appeared only in his boxers.

"Gah!" Gray yelled, "How'd that happened?!"

"Why, God, WHY?!" Lucy cried tearfully.

* * *

Island of Galuna, Local village, Year X784, July 16, 10:15 AM.

The next morning, everyone woke up quite late. Leon's crew left the village about half an hour ago, and Haru was about to leave as well.

"See you Haru!" Lucy waved to the silver-haired boy with an especially cheerful smile as Happy picked up his friend.

"See you guys!" Haru waved his goodbye. "And, Erza-san, sorry about your shirt!" During the feast Erza stumbled and tore her shirt on Haru's crutch.

"Don't worry," Erza replied, "I'm going to get new clothes soon anyway." Yep, she lost the bet…

"Yeah…" Natsu sighed "…as soon as I get back from Oshibana." Erza looked at him questioningly, so he explained, "I'm going to buy you those flowers that you liked. Yes, yes – I know, you lost the bet and all, but… if those flowers will make you happier – you'll get them."

"I love you…" She whispered as her huge, bottomless eyes were looking at him thankfully. "However… you know… I think I don't need those flowers." She added as Natsu looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know, may be Haru struck my head too hard yesterday, but as I think of it now… well, you were right – they are weird…" She smiled and pressed herself to Natsu. Then she rose on tiptoe and whispered into his ear, "But, if you want to make me a bit happier, you can buy me a new lingerie along with clothes…" And by blush on her cheeks Natsu could imagine what kind of lingerie she had on her mind.

* * *

"All right Lucy, this is your share of the reward." Natsu handed over the Sagittarius's golden key.

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed with a cheerful smile.

"This is your share, Gray," Erza gave 2,000,000 jewels to the ice mage.

"Now I can slack for several weeks straight… but I won't," Gray quickly corrected himself as Erza sent him her signature glare.

"Are you ready to travel back to Harujeon?" Bobo asked cheerfully.

"Me and Erza are going to fly to the mainland on the back of my familiar," Natsu said. "But I'm sure Lucy and Gray will be happy to keep you company."

"They're so selfish!" Lucy exclaimed as Gray sighed.

"Is someone going to ask the familiar's opinion?" Sin mumbled but he was ignored as Natsu threw a blue magic sphere into him, turning the little boney creature into a rideable mount.

Sin, with the slayers on his back, made a lap of honor, accompanied by cheerful shouts of the islanders as Lucy, Gray and Bobo headed to the coast. On the cliff nearby, Leon, Sherry, Yuka, Toby, Angelica, Haru and Happy were watching the Fairy Tail mage's departure.

"Haru, why didn't you ask her about how she suddenly managed to defeat you?" Happy asked his friend.

"Another time," Haru replied with smile.

"They're gone…" Yuka said.

"Hey, why are you…" Sherry asked the suddenly crying Toby.

"I'm not crying at all!" he replied.

"Is this okay? He's your fellow pupil; and you finally got along…" Sherry asked Lyon. "I'm talking about Love"

"It's okay… He'll be fine," Leon replied, "Hey… Is a guild fun?"

"C'mon Happy, let's gather our stuff," Haru said to his feline friend, "We're going to join a guild too."

"You wanna join Fairy Tail?!" Happy asked excitedly.

"No way!" Haru replied. "I'm sure we'll find another guild with strong mages, who are neither perverts nor exhibitionists…"

* * *

Magic council ERA, Year X784, July 17, 6:00 PM.

"I'm disappointed in the Delioara's case," Ultear said as she entered Siegrain's office.

"Well, can't be helped. We couldn't have known it was long dead," the azure-haired man replied.

"I'm sorry, Siegrain-sama. I didn't imagine that woman's magic to be so powerful," the dark-haired woman noted.

"Don't talk about her like that. Ultear… Tear of Ur, I respect your mother…" Sieg replied.

"By the way, it seems Dragneel knew about the demon's condition somehow…" Ultear said. "He's far less simple then we thought…"

"As I suspected…" an evil smile appeard on Siegrain's face. "Natsu Dragneel, son of Morrigan, keep on fighting…for the sake of my dream."

* * *

_**Spell List:**_

_Names:_

**Shitsutta Mahō** – Lost Magic

**Seikatsu Mahō** – Living Magic

**Metsu Mahō** – Slayer Magic

**Metsuryū Madōshi** – Dragon Slayer

**Shinentai** – Thought Projection

**Sen no Metsujin Madōshi** – War God Slayer

_Ice Make Spells:_

**Aisu Meiku: Bō** – Ice Make: Bow

**Aisu Meiku: Sunō Doragon** – Ice Make: Snow Dragon

**Aisu Meiku: Sunō Taigā** – Ice Make: Snow Tiger

**Aisu Meiku: Purizun** – Ice Make: Prison

**Aisu Meiku: Aisu Kyanon** – Ice Make: Ice Cannon

_Haru's Spells:_

**Kaen Kudō** – Flame Drive

**Karyū no Hōkō** – Fire Dragon's Roar

**Karyū no Tekken** – Fire Dragon's Iron Fist

**Karyū no Yokugeki** – Fire Dragon's Wings Attack

**Karyū no Kagitsume** – Fire Dragon's Claw

**Karyū no Saiga** – Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang

**Karyū no Nensō** – Fire Dragon's Blazing Spear

**Karyū no Kenkaku** – Fire Dragon's Sword Horn

**Karyū no Kōen** – Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame

**Metsuryū Ōgi: Guren Kajintsui** – Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Fire God Hammer

_Erza's spells:_

**Entei no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Flame Empress Armor

**Myōjō no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Morning Star Armor

**Hishō no Yoroi: Za Naito** – The Knight: Flight Armor

**Kōryūshi no Ken** – Photon Slicer (KanJi reads – 'Sword of Light Particles')

**Sonikku Kurou** – Sonic Claw

**Seikō Kudō** – Starlight Drive

**Seiryū no Hōkō** – Star Dragon's Roar

**Seiryū no Shōgeki** – Star Dragon's Shock Blow

**Seiryū no ****Yokusen** – Star Dragon's Wing Flash

**Seiryū no Kudatsume** – Star Dragon's Crushing Claw

**Seiryū no Keishō** – Star Dragon's Comet

**Metsuryū Ōgi: Tengoku Shōshinjin** – Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Heaven's Kingdom: True Holy Blade

_Natsu's Spells:_

**Senjin no Bakusō** – War God's Explosive Spear

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Manjinyō** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Ten Thousand Blades Dance

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath

* * *

Well, this is it people. Chapter twelve has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW!**_ A lots of reviews will encourage me to work faster! See you in the next chapter – **The Mist Of Nightmare.**


	13. The Mist Of Nightmare

Hi there people! Actually, I planned to publish this chapter tomorrow, but since it appeared that I'll be busy – here it is, the new chapter (actually it was written two weeks ago…)

I had read new omake. Well, have to admit – it was fun, quite a bit so my disappointment about FT was reduced a little. Still, many had guessed long ago what's hiding behind that angelic Mirajane's smile, aren't we?

* * *

**Thanks everyone who left the review.**

Notes for the **review**ers:

**TheMoneyKid****, ****Silent Reader 6100****, ****Guest, eze5555****, ****DragonSlayer96****, ****Mira-san:** Many thanks to you people, I assure you – these simple words actually means a lot for me (and any other writer).

**FanFictionHunter: **About blue flame… Well, temperature of Erza's magic is 18k kelvins, so it won't be much of a difference to her – I assume that Haru's flame temperature is about 3500 kelvins and cold flame… let's say 200 kelvins. In both cases, difference is huge.

* * *

**Now, let's proceed.** From the beginning, this chapter was mostly canon-like (I wrote it a while ago). However, as I promised, I partially rewrote it, to introduce OC in this chapter (initially she was planned for the next one). Also I made a kind of omake about Natsu and Erza's joint life and their house. I hope it will be fun. Notes about OC at the end of the chapter.

**Note:** It was really hard for me to do _that_ to such a cute girl, but it really had to be done. It's a preparation for Fighting Festival arc. Read to know what I meant xD.

* * *

**Chapter XIII – The Mist Of Nightmare**

…

August 26, X784, 9:40 AM, Magnolia's outskirts, Natsu and Erza's house.

It was nice, cloudless morning. Rays of late summer's sun filled the bedroom with warm light. Erza opened her eyes and yawned sweetly. She smiled as she felt Natsu's hands at her back. Even in his sleep, he held her encased in tight embrace. Erza feet herself so… secure in his strong but gentle arms.

Six weeks have passed since their return from the island of Galuna. During this time, Natsu and Erza could be rarely seen in the guild, since most of these days they were training to the point of complete exhaustion. Erza's battle with Haru gave them both a good shake-up. Natsu couldn't forget that his skills are so inferior comparing to Dragon Queen's art of magic. Compering to Andromeda's flawless spells, his magic was quite a sloppy work.

Erza, on the other hand, was even more determined – her defeat from Haru's hands was the last drop. Once she lost to the God Slayer Natsu and now to Dragon Slayer Haru. She liked her **Za Naito **[The Knight] magic, she really is, but atop of the Temple of the Moon she got a reminding of immense power of **Shitsutta**** Mahō** [Lost Magic]. Moreover, it seems that her new, highest-grade magic continued to displace her old, increasing the 'price' of her sword spells and even ex-equip spells, so now she had no choice but to master her **Sei no Metsuryū Mahō** [Star Dragon Slayer Magic] as quickly as possible. Besides, there is something imperceptibly attractive in pure power of dragon's magic… She still can use **Za Naito** of course, but now it's a backup magic. Nevertheless, the other guild members still were unaware of her new being – apart from Erza and Natsu, only Gray, Lucy, Sin and master Makarov knew that she became a dragon slayer.

During her training she got all the dragon slayers attributes – large canines, dragon-like pupils and exclusive star dragon feature – her body now were glowing in darkness (Natsu was raptured when he noticed it, glowing girl appeared to be an immense turn on for him). Glow wasn't noticeable during day but the fact that she tried to avoid looking into other people eyes actually looked weird… another reason to not hang out around the guild until she'll be ready to tell everyone. She knew that it will cause quite a stir, but now she just wanted to train peacefully.

However, it's easier to say than done. Learning the lost magic isn't a simple task. It's good that she have Natsu to help her – thanks to his knowledge she managed to comprehend the principles of her magic and master all basic and standard spells. However, when she started to learn advanced spells – **Metsuryū Ōgi **[Dragon Slayer's Secret Art], Erza understood that phrase 'complex spell' actually means.

Moreover, right now Erza has one more thing to take care of – her wedding draws near, only 48 days left (yep, she was counting days). Erza is exception from many rules, but not from this one – she too is dreaming about perfect wedding. Natsu, on the other hand, was like the most bridegrooms – his only real interest about the wedding was his bride. Bridegroom's duties are simple – he should came to the right church, in time, call the right name at the altar and pay the bills. Other petty details, like dresses, guests, decorations, meal – all of this is up to bride, wedding is a bride's day in the end. Erza felt all the 'pleasures' of wedding preparation in full measure. For example:

…

**Flashback, three weeks ago.**

"_Natsu, do you remember as I said that I want a modest ceremony?" Erza asked Natsu, who buried himself in the pile of ancient scrolls, he was doing his research about the location of '__Astrum Eclipsis__'_

"_Yes" He answered, continuing to stare into the old parchment._

"_Then why here is more than two hundred names?!" She exclaimed, holding the guest list, "Who all these people?!"_

"_Sweetie, I didn't write a single invitation" Natsu replied imperturbably as he took another scroll._

"_What?!" She asked indignantly, "You want to say that it's I am the one who invited all of them?!"_

"_You allowed up to five friends for every guest," Natsu replied._

"_How should I know that they all have an entire herd of friends?!... Hey!" Natsu struck her ass by the old scroll – he warned her about this at least three times._

**Flashback end.**

…

Or like this:

…

**Flashback, about a week ago.**

_During the short break in their training._

"_Natsu, did you already choose your best man?" Erza wondered as she was sitting on the chaise longue near pool, which was on back yard of their house, her feet were in the water._

"_Yeah, I'm already asked Gray" Natsu swam closer to his bride, he was in the pool. "I think he'll suffice, I just need to glue his suit to him so he won't be able to undress"_

"_Did you consider Loki's candidature? Erza wondered._

"_Nah, he'll be staring at your arse, you'll punch him, he'll crash into someone and wedding will turn into slapstick" God slayer replied as he kissed her big toes._

"_Yeah, right…" Dragon slayer agreed as she imagined the situation. "And you think Gray will agree?" Erza asked._

"_Hmm… 'You'll be my best man or I'll make your life unbearable…' Yeah, I think he'll agree," Natsu smirked._

"_Natsu! You can't threaten people like this!" Erza scolded him._

"_Oh really?" Natsu replied…_

…

_**Deep flashback, one more week ago.**_

"_Lucy, will you be my maid of honor, please?" Erza asked blonde, overhanging on her and glaring at her as only Erza could glare._

"_Yes ma'am!" Lucy saluted._

"_Thank you Lucy!" Erza exclaimed happily and squashed blonde in hug. "I know you are reliable so I won't have to punish you for ruined wedding!"_

"_HEEEEK!" Lucy yelped._

_**Deep flashback end.**_

…

"_Hey! I was very polite!" Erza exclaimed resentfully._

"_So polite that Mira had to mix whiskey into Lucy's tea to calm her down" Natsu noted._

"_Whiskey, really? She was so happy that I chose her as my maid of honor?" Erza wondered as Natsu face-palmed "Lucy's so impressionable… hey, stop it!" Natsu sprinkled her with water from pool._

_**Flashback end.**_

…

Or how about this:

…

**Flashback, three days ago.**

_Natsu and Erza were talking at breakfast._

"_Oh, by the way, I hired Mirajane as a waitress for our wedding dinner" Natsu informed his bride._

"_What?! What is it for?!" Erza asked indignantly, to be honest she would prefer to not see Mira at the ceremony at all._

"_Because she herself offered her services and she would be offended if I would refuse" Natsu answered._

"_So?" Erza inquired._

"_So? Erza, how much time I should tell you to never offend people who have access to your food? You want to eat your strawberry cakes mixed with her saliva?" Natsu replied before adding, "Hmm… it's almost like kissing her…"_

"_Cough… cough… many thanks to you… cough… Natsu!" Erza choked as her face became a bit green…_

_**Flashback end.**_

…

"Nasty boy…" Erza mumbled as she returned from wandering inside her memories. But then she looked at his face, which was just five centimeters away from hers, and smiled again, he looked so peaceful in his sleep. Natsu could be an insolent, sarcastic nasty boy, but he is _her personal_ insolent, sarcastic nasty boy. _'Natsu… you're brilliant... yet you're just a cute little fool… I love you so much…' _She thought as she wrapped her hands around his neck and slightly bit the tip of his nose. "Natsu, wake up…" She whispered tenderly as she touched his earflap by her lips. "Natsu…" she called again, took his earflap into her mouth and started to chew it, carefully, to not hurt it by her massive canines.

"Okay…" Natsu mumbled sleepily, "It seems someone urgently need breakfast"

Erza giggled, "You turned me into a dragon, so this is how it works now – you'll feed me or I'll eat you, mmmm…" She let out a sweet moan when Natsu pressed her to himself tighter. "C'mon, it's already ten, time to get up. We need to visit the guildhall or others fill forget how do we look like." They were not in the guildhall since last Sunday.

"Nah, no need to rush, today is the day of relaxation…" Natsu replied. Her body was so hot (both figurative and literally), "…we have time for some morning fun." He said as he grabbed Erza's arms and roughly pressed her to the mattress. She could only groan, unable to resist.

* * *

August 26, X784, 11:15 AM, Same place.

"By the way, why did you chose Lucy?" Natsu asked as he and Erza came out from the bathroom, both wearing the dressing gowns.

"She's reliable and have everything I might need – fashion magazines, shopping catalogues, hairdresser, spare bed for me to spend the night before wedding… " Erza replied, "And she is easy to get along with"

"Didn't you thought about Levy?" Natsu wondered.

"I am, but… Don't you think that she is a bit too small?" Erza asked, meaning that Lucy's dimensions are common for the guild's girls and she could be used for clothes choosing, for example.

"Ah, yea… you right. I have nothing against Loli-type, but near you she'll stand out..." Natsu again managed to twist someone's words inside out.

"Hey! It's not what I meant!" Erza exclaimed, "Natsu, start cooking already…"

Actually, Erza appeared to be a very good housewife – house always was clean, neat and welcoming. Her only problem was that she did not learned to cook. She tried, really, yet results were lower than average. When she and Natsu started dating Erza was really bothered about it, but, for her surprise, Natsu didn't find it troublesome at all. Moreover, he himself appeared to be an excellent cook. Also he said that it will be just if he'll take this part of home duties over himself. Lovemaking after that revelation was unforgettable…

* * *

August 26, X784, 12:10 PM, Magnolia.

Natsu and Erza were walking toward guildhall. Natsu's clothes were still the same – black army boots, snow-camo army pants and his black/gold coat. The only exception was that his coat now was sleeveless – since he lost his left sleeve in battle against Zanaphar, he just asked the atelier to align the ripped clothes. Now both his shoulders were exposed, he just bought new glove that was long enough to hide mutilated part of his left hand.

Changes in Erza's appearance were more significant. Now she was wearing white silky "cross my heart halter top" (A/N: Google entire string to see it, with quotes) – crop top featuring a halter neckline and crossed front straps. It was paired with black leather low-waist shorts, featuring a low waist with zip fly, metal studs and chains detail to the bodycon belt. Also she now wore white leather sandals, featuring crisscrossing straps up to knee height, open-toe.

Thanks to her new, revealing top, the crimson, glowing Seal of God on her right shoulder blade was visible to everyone, but Erza has no problem with it. Just like Natsu who has no problem with the Mark of Dragon on his left shoulder – right the opposite to his guild stamp.

…

**Flashback, three days after their return from Galuna Island.**

"_Natsu!" Erza called out for her fiancé who was sitting on their bed, taking off his clothes before sleep while she was reading her star magic grimoire._

"_What's up?" He asked._

"_Natsu, I just learned that dragon slayer can place a mating sign, just like you did with me!" She raised her eyes from the book, which were glowing with enthusiasm._

"_Hmm? Let me see it" Natsu quickly read the chapter. Even after quick reading he could say that it works almost the same way as his Seal of God._

"_Natsu, I want to mark you!" She stated excitedly._

_Natsu looked into her eyes. There was no reason to try to explain that one Seal is more than enough and she'll only duplicate already existing unbreakable ties. She is smart and she knows it by herself, it seems she just want him to wear the mark of her love._

"_Okay" Natsu replied. "Place it here" He pointed at his left shoulder. "I want everyone to see your mark"_

"_Oh, you're so bold…" Erza smiled playfully before biting Natsu's shoulder by her canines. White glowing picture, which looked just like Erza's dragon-magic seal, appeared on his shoulder. Erza's eyes shone so happily…_

**Flashback end.**

…

Natsu and Erza continued their way toward guildhall, hand in hand. This Sunday's afternoon was wonderful. Sky was clear and sun was warm and welcoming. While they were approaching the guild, they met Lucy, Gray and Sin. It seems these three were returning from the mission.

"Hey guys! How was it?" Natsu asked cheerfully as Erza smiled to their friends. Both S-class mages were in very good mood.

"Success!" Lucy answered joyfully. Both she and Gray decided to intensify their training as well, however, they chose another way – they were doing missions, usually 3-4 per week. Sin often accompanied them.

"You're heading to the guildhall?" Gray asked.

"Yep, we have to show ourselves in the guild people will forget about our existence" Erza replied carelessly, "C'mon, join us."

"Oh, Erza, can you visit me later today? I need to discuss a few things about the wedding" Lucy asked as she remembered something.

"Of course. We decided to take a break from our training for today, so I'm free to the end of the day." Erza replied.

They continued onward, chatting.

However, when they were on approach to the guildhall, team noticed that townsfolk were looking at them with strange expression. They were constantly throwing stealthy glances at team Natsu, whispering to each other. Erza heard some phrases:

"It's Fairy Tail wizards…"

"I guess they don't know yet…"

"The poor things…"

"We're drawing an unusual amount of attention…" Lucy noted.

"They are... sympathizing to us..." Erza said uncertainly. "And their voices are… frightened…"

"Is something wrong with us?" Natsu wondered as he looked over his team. Erza shrugged, everything seemed normal. Team continued onward to the guild – they were almost there. They rounded the corner and whole team froze like paralyzed.

About half a minute they stood still, trying to grasp what exactly they are looking at now. Instead of their guildhall they saw… something. Natsu felt as Erza clenched to his arm "N-Natsu… this is… this is the… the _Tower of Heaven_! The place I told you about… where I… I was…"

Natsu looked into her frightened eyes "Erza, what are you talking about? This is the _Tower of Din_! The place where all sorrows are sleeping. Forbidden, wretched place where I was cursed and became the **Kuroi Geijutsu** [Black Arts] wielder…"

Erza looked at him questioningly but suddenly Gray spoke out "What the… this is the ruins of the townhall… of town where I lived… after it was destroyed by Deliora…"

"Hmm?..." Natsu get suspicious, he turned to blonde, "Lucy, what do you see?"

"This is… the church… where… funeral took place..." Lucy were trembling a bit.

"Okay, I see…" Erza said as she got the good a guess about what is going on "It seems that we all see the places, linked to our worst memories…"

"I don't know what are you talking about, but I see our guild hall, and it completely wrecked!" Sin exclaimed, he was looking at guild building that has been torn apart by metal rods, surging out of the center.

"C'mon! Let's find out what's going on!" Natsu ordered and team rushed toward guild building. As they were approaching the image from places of their memories was becoming more and more transparent, so when they came to the guildhall's gates they saw just a severely damaged building, just as Sin described it. In addition to the iron rods, entire guildhall was enveloped by strange green mist.

"Our guild…" Gray growled through teeth.

"What happened here?!" Erza asked angrily.

"Phantom Lord…" Mirajane's voice sounded from behind, Natsu turned around to see very upset platinum blonde. "It's mortifying… but we were owned…"

* * *

August 26, X784, 12:10 PM, Fairy Tail's 1st floor basement.

"Is it safe to enter into this mist cloud?" Lucy asked warily while team were walking downstairs, following Mirajane.

"Yes, it intended to create illusions, not to harm people directly" Natsu replied.

"Hey, look who's here…" Some of the guild members said.

"Did master called for them?" Another one wondered.

"Did you see what happened to the guild?!" Nab asked when team Natsu passed him by.

"No, we are deaf, blind and stupid," Natsu spitted acrimoniously, working out his frustration. Nab twitched as if he got a slap on his face, but Natsu ignored it.

"Why no one informed us about it?" Erza asked, looking around.

"Master said that nothing needs to be done" Mira explained, "So there were no reason to disturb you."

"What?!" Gray, Natsu and Erza asked in shock, but Mira just shrugged, meaning that they should speak to the master.

It seems that guild's basement was turned into a temporary beer hall. Angry talking could be heard all around the basement:

"That sight… that was so creepy…"

"It's so despicable magic!"

It seems all the guild members saw some unpleasant illusion as well.

"Damn phantom! How dare they do this to our guild?!"

"We've always been on bad terms with them"

"Let's go and smash their guild hall!"

"I said to stop that. This is Phantom we're talking about"

"Coward…" Erza hissed as she overheard the last phrase.

"Yo! Welcome back!" Makarov exclaimed cheerfully as his cheeks were already a bit red from fair amount of consumed alcohol.

"We've arrived, Master!" Erza reported.

"Your orders, Master?" Natsu inquired.

"Oh, right!" Master answered "You two, please relocate those barrels – they hinder on the aisle"

"What?!" Gray yelled as Natsu and Erza's bodies became white, cracked all over and crumbled to pieces (in anime manner).

"Um… It's not the kind of order that they meant…" Lucy commented.

"Jii-san, do you understand our current situation?!" Gray exclaimed, "The guild's been busted up!"

"Master! Let's go hunt them down!" Natsu exclaimed (his and Erza's bodies were restored)

"We should catch some of their members, bring them here in chains and make them repair our guildhall!" Erza agreed with Natsu.

'_The one that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas…'_ Mirajane thought as she heard Erza's suggestion.

"Now, now… calm down." Makarov brushed their words off, "It's not something to get so riled up about."

"They caused millions of Jewels of damage!" Erza yelled.

"Not to mention the damage to our reputation!" Natsu added.

"Phantom, right? That's all those half-wits got in 'em?" Makarov replied carelessly. "Attacking the guild when nobody was there… Who'd take pleasure in that?"

"Nobody was here?" Lucy wondered.

"It seems the attack happened in the middle of the night," Mira replied sadly.

"So, that's why there were no fighting at all…" Gray mumbled to himself.

"If they can only manage a sneak-attack, we shouldn't even give those bastards the time of day. They aren't worth our time!" Makarov concluded.

"No way!" Natsu bellowed as his eyes flashed with crimson light, "While we were on our way here, townspeople were expressing their pity toward us! They made us look pitiful and you're okay with it?!"

"Master, guild can't work in this condition!" Erza expressed her own concern.

"Cut it out, you two!" Master yelled as he extended her arm using his 'Titan' magic and placed a harsh slap on Lucy's ass.

"Kyah!" Lucy yelped, "Why he is spanked _my_ butt!?"

"Master, don't push me…" Mira said sternly.

"I understand your concern, but this problem was already solved" Makarov answered to Erza, "We'll take on job requests here until the upstairs is fixed. Now, if you excuse me… I've gotta go take a leak!" Makarov announced with joyful expression as he hopped off from the crate he was sitting on and ran away.

"What's wrong with you, Jii-san? How can you be okay with such a dishonor?" Natsu mumbled as he was still unable to believe in that what just happened. Son of the warrior goddess, he couldn't bear such humiliating inaction.

"Natsu… this is just as hard for the master, you know. But outright conflict between guilds is forbidden by the Council," Mira informed.

"Damn old fools!" Erza snorted, thanks to Siegrain she scorned entire Council now. She embraced her fiancé and added "Okay, if that's how master feels… we'll submit, for now…"

Needless to say that Erza and Natsu's day off was ruined along with their mood. Instead of enjoying the one of the last summer days, they had to rid of iron rods and patch the holes (strange mist dissolved by itself).

* * *

August 26, X784, 9:00 PM, Natsu and Erza's house.

"So… this is where they live…" Gray said in slight shock as he and Lucy, with Sin on her shoulder, arrived to specified country house, "I knew they both are psychos… but this?!"

"Whoa…" Lucy whistled as she looked at three-storey mansion. Despite Lucy was Erza's maid of honor, scarlet-haired girl herself usually came to visit Lucy, so this was the first time when blonde saw this house. "Cool… Extremely weird, but cool". The house was built in ultra-avantgarde style, and resembled starship much more than normal house, where normal people can live. (A/N: Those who need reference just google the string: "Naomi Campbell's Futuristic Mansion", with quotes. Layout is different from reference). It was not as big as her father's house, of course, but still – 2650 square meters… it's quite a big house.

"Come on in, you three" Natsu's voice called out from the second floor's window.

…

"Your house is… remarkable," Lucy said as she and others now were with house's owners, at the top floor (on tower), having dinner.

"Thanks" Natsu replied. "I once saved the life of its architect and contractor. In gratitude, he designed this house for free and built it with minimal markup."

"Mmmm…" Lucy groaned as she tasted the meal that was served for a dinner. "Erza, your cooking is delicious…" blonde admitted.

Erza's cheeks blushed a little "Thanks for high praise Lucy, but… it's not my cooking" She admitted.

"Really? Then who…" Lucy's eyes widened as she figured out the answer. She slowly moved her sight at Natsu, who winked in answer.

"What's wrong Lucy? You thought that I can only blow up everything left and right?" He smiled.

"Well, yes!" Lucy said honestly, making both Natsu and Erza to laugh. Lucy blushed as she understood that she blurted out, "Sorry…" she said as her inner voice asked _'How many more secrets you two have?!'_

* * *

August 26, X784, 9:15 PM, Somewhere in magnolia.

Levy, Jet and Droy were walking along one of the town's streets.

"Are you sure about this, Levy?" Droy asked.

"Wouldn't it be better for you to stay with Laki at girl's dorm?" Jet suggested.

"It's fine, no problem!" Bookworm answered carelessly, "We're team, right?"

Both Jet and Droy fell on the ground with hearts in their eyes, shouting "Levy!"

"There's nothing to fear with the three of us!" Levy exclaimed.

"I'll protect you Levy!" Jet confirmed.

"No, I will!" Droy vowed.

None of them noticed a tall, black-haired man, who stood at the roof nearby. His dragon eyes were focused on trio, while he was watching at them with scornful smirk. _'Time to learn your place, fairies…'_ He thought as he jumped toward team Shadowgear.

* * *

August 26, X784, 9:25 PM, Fairy Tail guildhall.

Despite it was already late, quite many of guild members were remaining in the guildhall.

"Hey Mira, when you'll decide to go home, tell me – I'll walk you out" Wakaba called for the waitress.

"No way! I'll walk her out!" Macao exclaimed indignantly.

"You two are not manly enough to accompany nee-san!" Elfman stated as Wakaba and Macao grabbed each other by collars.

"Thank you guys, but I think I'm going to spend this night here." Mira replied with her usual cheerful smile. "There is still much work to be done, besides, someone should watch over the guildhall."

"Then I'll too will remain here to watch over guild hall!" Macao said.

"Yeah, me too!" Wakaba exclaimed.

"It's a MAN's duty to watch over the guildhall at night!" Elfman stated.

Several more people, including Max, Warren, Nab, Vijeeter and Reedus, expressed their readiness to watch over the guildhall.

"Thanks guys!" Mira exclaimed with smile.

None of them noticed that green mist started to fill the basement.

"All right people, I'm going to sleep a bit, watch other the guild and then I'll change you," Macao said as he started to feel himself sleepy.

"No way! I'm first, you can sleep later," Wakaba said as he laid his head on the table.

"The man should sleep well…" Elfman yawned and fell asleep.

One by one, all members of Fairy Tail fell asleep, including Mirajane.

"Truly, this place is the hive of sin…" Female voice said. Few moments later, quite tall woman, with curvaceous, well-endowed body and long waving turquoise hair, appeared literally from nowhere. "Such a corrupted sinners should be cleansed from within…" She added, continuing to walking among sleeping guild members.

* * *

August 26, X784, 9:40 PM, Natsu and Erza's house.

"Okay guys, we going to wake up early tomorrow, so I suggest everyone to prepare for a sleep" Erza announced, "There's two bathrooms on the second floor, use them, today were many of dirty work."

"Nah, I'm too sleepy, just show me the guest room" Gray replied.

"Gray, it's not easy to keep all these bedclothes clean," Erza noted with narrowed eyes. "Get to the bath, now," She added, sending him her signature glare. No, she's not going to offer Gray to take shower together – she learned that this is very intimate action.

* * *

Twenty minutes later

"Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us all of a sudden?" Lucy asked as she entered the living room. Erza and Gray (whose sleepiness somehow disappeared) was here while Natsu was in shower (it would be inappropriate to take shower together with Erza while they have guests).

"I'm not sure… we've had some brushes before, but it's the first time they attacked us this directly" Sin replied.

"I don't understand… they made us looks like an idiots… why master was unwilling to take actions? I'm refuse to believe that he's scared," Erza was thinking aloud.

"No way Jii-san could be scared" Gray agreed, "He's one of the Ten Wizards Saints, after all"

"Ten Wizards Saints?" Lucy asked.

"It's a title given to the ten best mages in each continent; decided by the chairman of the magic council" Erza explained.

"Oh wow!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Master Jose of Phantom is one of the Ten Wizards Saints too," Sin informed.

'_And so he is…'_ Erza thought about hated azure-haired man.

"I think both master and Mira-chan know what would happen if two guilds fight, so they're avoiding it," Gray expressed his opinion, "In order to protect the order in magical world"

"Hmm… you may be right" Erza noted, "It might be Mira's fault – she became too carried away with her ostentatious pacifism…"

"That's not what I meant!" freaked out Gray exclaimed.

"Is Phantom lord strong?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing we can't handle" Natsu answered as he appeared from the doorway. He nodded to Erza and she went to take the shower. "We can deal with them, however – they shouldn't be underestimated. They have master Jose, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, who is ranked right after master Makarov. Also they have so called "Element Four", the equivalent of our S-class mages over there." Natsu made a pause and looked into the window, "However, most formidable enemies, aside from Jose, are the Aces of Phantom Lord guild – Two Dragon Slayers – **Tetsuryū** [Iron Dragon] _Gajeel Redfox_ and **Mu****ryū** [Dream Dragon] _Nelliel Tu Odel_. Presumably they're the culprits behind the attack on our guild this time."

"Dragon Slayers!?" Lucy yelped, "You mean like Erza and Haru?! But… _dream dragon_?! What could it possibly be?!"

"No idea," Natsu replied, "But I can guess that she is the one responsible for the illusion we saw at the morning. I think I heard about this technique – it's called 'The Mist of Nightmare', or something like this. It could explain why Sin saw just our guild – he's unsleeping."

"Right… but, does it mean they eat iron and… what dream dragon can possibly eat?" Lucy inquired.

"I can only suggest that it somehow connected to 'dream'…" Natsu shrugged.

"By the way, Natsu, there is something I wanted to ask for some time" Gray said, "Is your **Metsujin Mahō** [God Slayer Magic] stronger than **Metsuryū Mahō** [Dragon Slayer Magic]?"

"There is not such terms as 'stronger' or 'weaker' when we are talking about Lost Magic, Gray. In theory, god's magic of the same type is of a higher grade than dragon's magic. However, since it's Lost Magic, there might be a way to break this simple 'grade' rule. In battle – strength and experience of Slayers will be decisive factors, not an exact type of magic. Both types have some advantages and disadvantages, and, by the way, neither of them was intended to be used against humans…"

"I see…" Gray said, however, he actually was very confused.

"Dragons should not be taken lightly" Natsu continued, "Some low ranked gods could be easily outmatched by powerful dragons. And even highest ranked deities, like my mother, considers some dragons as a worthy opponents. Especially one of them… Besides, god's magic can't kill dragon, and vice versa, to completely defeat dragon you need dragon's magic"

"Who is that dragon you mentioned?" Lucy asked with widened eyes. _'How powerful should be a dragon to be counted as a worthy opponent for supreme goddess of war?!'_

"I'd rather not to call its name, names contains power..." Natsu replied, "He's called as **Kokuryū** [The Black Dragon] or **Ton****ryū** [The Chaos Dragon] and reputed as **The Black Dragon in the Book of Apocalypse**."

"HEEEEK!" Lucy yelped as she heard the word 'apocalypse'.

"Don't mind it Lucy, focus on our current reality" Natsu concluded as he stood up and moved toward doorway, where Erza was already waiting for him.

"Guest rooms are there and there – choose any" Erza pointed to the doorways before waving to her guests, "Good night!"

"Sweet dreams!" Lucy, Gray and Sin said simultaneously.

"Sin, you know what to do, if you'll see or even feel anything suspicious – wake us up immediately" Natsu said to his familiar and slayers went to their bedroom.

"We did well? It's our first guests…" Erza's voice could be heard from the corridor.

"Damn, I should stop asking such a questions before sleep…" Lucy complained. "I think I have to read something to be able to sleep…" She said as she noticed a pile of magazines on the table. "Huh? Sorcerer's weekly?" Lucy took one of the magazines and opened it. Inside was a subscription ticket, on Erza's name.

"Hmm, Erza subscribed for sorcerer weekly? I didn't know it." Gray said as he too looked into magazine.

Lucy noticed a bookmark, it was at the end of the magazine, where some home-care articles are publishing. "Interesting…" She mumbled. And her eyes slightly widened as she read a title on bookmarked page _'Learning the __knitting. You want your husband and kids to be in warmth at any season? Knit for them the magic sweaters!'_

"Erza?! Knitting?!" Gray exclaimed in disbelief. Ice mage took another bookmarked magazine and looked at marked title _'Useful spells to keep your house clean…'_ Gray scratched his head "I can't believe it… Natsu is a cook, Erza is a housewife…"

"How many things we're not know about Erza or Natsu?" Lucy mumbled.

"How many things we actually _do_ know about them?" Gray replied. "Very little…"

"And now you two are going to know one more thing about Erza" voice of scarlet-haired dragon slayer sounded from the doorway, it seem ears of she-dragon heard their talking even from another floor. Both Lucy and Gray gulped as they saw quite scowling Erza. She came close to Lucy and Gray, snatched the magazines from their hands, wrapped them into tubes and struck at Lucy and Gray's heads by these tubes, smashing them into the floor and knocking them out. "Erza do not like when somebody is digging in her stuff" She announced and headed back to her bedroom.

* * *

August 27, X784, 1:00 AM, Oak Town, Phantom Lord's main representative base.

Unlike most of the Fiore's guilds, Phantom Lord has several branches across the country, acting as a representative bases. Largest of them was here, in the Oak Town, not far from guild's real headquarters.

Tall and muscular young man with long, spiky black hair, whose face and limbs were decorated by sets of simple, round studs, was having a late dinner – he just returned from his 'raid'. He wore shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges, a studded belt around his waist, loose, beige pants tucked inside studded black boots, and a pair of studded brown gloves paired with similarly studded wristbands. He also sports a distinctive wing-like ornament, seemingly made of feathers.

"Gajeel! I just heard. You attacked the fairy tail, right? Uhahah, good job!" One of the guild members praised Gajeel, who continued to consume metallic tableware. "I bet their spirit must be pretty crushed by now!" Man continued, unaware of that he's annoying Gajeel, "Serves them right, you know?" Man clapped his palms, one second later he was smashed into the opposite wall of the guildhall by Gajeel's **Tetsuryūkon** [Iron Dragon's Club] as other phantom member's just laugh at their unconscious comrade.

"What did I say about disturbing me while I'm eating? Trash…" Gajeel spitted, clenching his fist. "Who cares about those fairy assholes? We're more powerful than them"

"The sinners shouldn't be taken lightly, Gajeel-san" Female's voice said, making Iron Dragon to roll his eyes. Tall woman, about 19 years old, with curvaceous, well-endowed body and long waving turquoise hair, appeared near the knocked out guild member. She had a cute face and hazel eyes, her outfit consists of high-collared shirt (with large Teutonic Cross, decorating it, "Crux Ordis Teutonicorum", whose height was from waist to collar), white pants and boots, also she wore white leather gloves. On her waist she wore a katana, its hilt and scabbard were of the same color as girl's hair. Right side of her head was decorated by a bobby pin, shaped as white four-point cross.

Girl came closer to the knocked out guild member and made a deep breath. Green glowing cloud detached from unconscious man and girl consumed it. "Having so meager mind... it's almost the sin…" She concluded after consuming the cloud. She had specific – calm, even apathetic manner of speech. "I'm still hungry" She said, looking around, then she headed to one of the tables – despite the late hour, here was quite many people. She plopped down on a bench near the table, pushing everyone who was sitting there (one on the other side of the bench fell on floor) and started to eat their food.

"Hey! We paid for it!" Exclaimed one of those who was sitting here (probably it was a team) as other were watching with resent.

"Share with those in need" Girl quoted the commandment and continued to eat as Gajeel was looking at this scene with permanent face-palm.

"The wheels have been set in motion…" Man's voice called from the balcony above dining hall, "Excellent job, Gajeel-san, Nelliel-san." It was Jose Pola, master of the Phantom Lord guild.

"You're too lenient, master. Those rat bastards won't be lured out of their cages with just that" Gajeel snickered, "So I left them another present"

"Punishment for sinful life should be visible. This is the only way to put sinners on the right path" Nelliel noted as she stood up and headed to another table, where another group of phantom members were dining.

"My, my…" Jose chuckled, "Though, you two mustn't kill _that person_, no matter what"

"Gi Hi Hi Hi" Gajeel laughed.

"As you say, master" Nelliel nodded.

* * *

August 27, X784, 8:25 AM, Town of Magnolia, town's south entrance.

Team Natsu arrived to the town, Lucy and Gray were intended to go to their houses as Natsu and Erza wanted to check the guild before returning home and continuing their training. Sin went ahead to the guild building.

However, just as team entered the town, they noticed that many townspeople were heading toward the nearby park with very worried, even frightened expressions.

"What's going on?" Lucy wondered.

"We should check it out, c'mon" Erza ordered and team headed to the park.

As they arrived to the park, they saw a large amount of people standing around big tree. When they approached, Erza first began to shake with fury, eyes of she-dragon were able to see what happened from the great distance. As team came closer, everyone was able to see the picture. Team Shadow Gear was chained to the tree with metal straps; they all were unconscious and severely injured as their clothes were ripped to shreds. Levy's stomach was burned with the Phantom Lord guild mark.

"Levy-chan…" Lucy cried in shock.

"Jet! Droy!" Gray shouted, clenching his fists.

"Phantom…" Erza growled.

"Gray, get them down from there!" Natsu ordered.

"On it!" Gray said, "C'mon Lucy, I need your help!"

Gray and Lucy rushed to the tree, Gray made an ice ladder, climbed up and started to unlock the straps with nail puller made of ice, as Lucy summoned Virgo so she could hold the victims to not let them fall.

"Natsu! You need to go to the town's marketplace, now!" Sin's voice called from behind.

"Sin, we have a situation here!" Erza pointed to the tree.

"It's not our only situation" Lil dragon replied.

"They'll handle it, there is nothing else we can do here. C'mon, let's check it out!" Natsu said as he rushed toward market with Erza followed him, guessing what else could happen. As they came to the place, they got the answer.

Large wooden cross was driven into the ground right in the middle of the marketplace, with Mirajane, crucified on it as large crowd of frightened people already gathered around. Her elbows, wrists, knees, ankles and neck were tied to the cross by green, magical, but quite real snakes, one more snake was sticking out from her mouth, acting like a gag. Her dress was ripped apart, so Mira was in her lingerie, she was severely injured but fortunately alive, and, unfortunately, she was conscious. Fairy Tail's drawing card was quietly moaning, shedding silent tears from pain and humiliation.

No matter how strong the rivalry between Erza and Mira once was, now scarlet-haired girl sympathized with blue-eyed blonde by all fibers of her soul. Natsu dashed to the cross and Heavenly Blossom glinted in the air as Natsu sliced all the snakes. He caught her body as Erza pulled out the last snake from Mira's mouth and squished it.

"Thank… You…" Mira moaned through pain, she was in bad shape but her life seems to be out of danger.

"C'mon, we have to deliver her to the hospital!" Erza said but suddenly they felt powerful magic nearby and turned toward its source to see master Makarov approaching him. His eyes were burning with yellow light, he wore his white coat with Wizard Saint symbol on its back. No doubts – he already saw team Shadow Gear and was informed that Natsu and Erza went to the market in urge.

"Wrecking our shoddy bar I can bear with…" Makarov said as he looked at beaten Mirajane and his anger became twice as much. "But no parent can remain silent after seeing their children blood…" Makarov growled, eliciting a magic shockwave. "Deliver her to the hospital… and ready yourself, you two, we're going to war!"

* * *

August 27, X784, 9:40 AM, Town of Magnolia, Hospital, wizard-treatment facility.

While others were preparing to the attack on Phantom Lord, Lucy was here, watching over the patients. "Jet… Droy… Levy-chan…" Lucy whispered mournfully as she looked at team Shadow Gear. Lucy remembered how she met with Levy. No, Natsu kept his word and didn't tell anyone about Lucy's novel, but still, Lucy was quite a bookworm herself so two 17 year old girls quickly found common language.

"This is too cruel… and Mira-san…" Lucy looked at blue-eyed girl, whose warm sight and cheerful smile was known to entire Fiore. "Phantom… I can't forgive them…" Blonde mumbled as tears swelled in her eyes.

* * *

August 27, X784, 5:12 PM, Oak Town, Phantom Lord's main representative base.

Many Phantom Lord's members were here, celebrating the successful diversion against Fairy Tail. Most of them, if not all, were not aware of the real reason behind feud between two guilds, but they were mostly short-minded people, so they were just drinking, relishing Fairy Tail's humiliation.

"So, let's do some work!" One of the guild members said as team of three people headed to the exit door.

"And on our way back, we'll pluck off a few fairy wings!" Another one sneakered with quite dumb smile on his face.

However, then the three approached to the door it exploded and blastwave smashed all of them into the balcony above main hall. All Phantom Lord members jumped up on their feet, with angry expressions on their faces, looking at cloud of smoke at destroyed door. When smoke dissolved, they saw Fairy Tail guild members, in almost complete structure. Natsu stood in front of everyone – it seems he was the one who destroyed the door.

"WE ARE FAIRY TAIL!" Makarov let out a warcry, ordering his mages into the battle.

"Wha?!..."

"Who?!..."

"Hey!..."

Phantom members had no time to recovery from initial shock, caused by sudden and very bold action as Fairy Tail mages rushed into fight.

"**Senjin ****no ****Sōken****!"** [War God's Twin Blade] Natsu used his twin blades to blast a dozen of phantom members in the air. "You wanted war?! Here I am!" He shouted as other Fairy Tail mages rushed into the building.

"Don't get carried away punk! Bring him down!" Phantom members recovered from shock and moved for counterattack. The Phantom members were great in numbers, but it only improved FT's combat spirit – they can punish more of these Phantom bastards. Elfman, Macao and Wakaba were fighting especially furiously – that happened to Mira and the fact that she was kidnapped right under their noses enraged them to the edge.

**Aisu Meiku: Hanmā!** [Ice Make: Hammer] Gray made a huge hammer made of ice and smashed several phantom members by it.

"**Pāpuru Netto!"** [Purple Net] Makao shouted as he entrapped a dozen of Phantom members in net made of Purple Flame "Wakaba!" He turned to smoke mage.

"Gotcha!" Wakaba replied before using his spell **"Sumōku Kurasshu!"** [Smoke Crush] Fists made of smoke crushed the entrapped mages.

"**Ganzu Majikku: Burasuto Buritto!"** [Guns Magic: Blast Bullet] Alzack shot a bright blue explosive bullet into the crowd of phantom members, blasting out several of them.

At the same time, Bisca appeared on the balcony with her sniper rifle "Target Lock On: **Hōmingu Shotto! **[Homing Shot]" She locked on one of Phantom Members and sent a homing bullet into him, whish exploded on contact.

"**Majikku Kādo: ****Torunēdo!"** [Magic Cards: Tornado] Cana combined three cards and shot them at enemies, eliciting a local tornado that caught some Phantom mages and slammed them into ceiling.

"**Teiku Ōbā: ****Bea Āmu!" ** [Take Over: Bear Arm] Elfman Shouted as his arm turned into that of a Bear and he rushed into enemy's crowd, swinging his arm left and right.

"Get master Makarov!" Someone shouted and several phantom members rushed toward shorty. As they approached, Makarov's yes flashed with gold light as he used his Titan magic to increase his own size 50 times and squished enemies like a bugs. "KYAHHH! Monster!" Somebody let out a strangled cry.

"You bastards brought the fight to the children of that monster!" Makarov yelled as whole building shook from the power of his voice "Don't even for a second think that you'll be protected by the laws of humans!"

Now Phantom members began to comprehend their situation.

"S-such strength!"

"Their soldiers ain't small fry, either!"

"These guys are nuts!"

"Jose! Show yourself!" Makarov demanded.

Erza fought in the middle of Phantom crowd. She wore her Lightning Empress armor, but without Thunder Spear. Actually, she simply chosen this armor as her standard combat outfit, since it provides some protection to her limbs without reduction of mobility. She fought using her common magic swords, without spells – sword magic became too expensive to use them without emergency. Erza knew that today she'll have to reveal her new powers, yet she decided to keep it in secret until battle become really serious to use her new power as trump card. Besides, right now she was doing very good without any magic at all – enemies were weak. "Where!? Where are Gajeel and members of the element four?!" Erza yelled, demanding answer. She swung her swords around, crushing a dozen of Phantom members with one blow.

Natsu, who fought beside his bride, looked around. Here was already many crushed enemies. Natsu made a deep breath, consuming unreleased aggression from defeated enemies. Many crimson clouds detached from crushed enemies and headed to Natsu's mouth. As he finished with the 'meal', crimson aura engulfed his body and he yelled in fury "NELLIEL! Show yourself!"

Right above the raging battle, two Phantom's dragon slayers were standing, hidden by Nelliel's illusive mist. "So, this is the two of most horrible sinners…" Green-haired girl said.

"Yeah… that's Titania Erza and Ravager Natsu… So, Gildarts, Laxus and Mystogan are sitting things out, huh? They're underestimating us…" Gajeel noted.

"But it seems that master Jose's plan is working well… let the sinners show their true faces…" Nelliel spoke out in her usual apathetic manner.

"Gi Hi Hi! Come on, scum! Be your reckless selves…" Gajeel snickered.

* * *

Seven hours earlier, August 27, X784, 10:30 AM, Somewhere in magnolia.

Lonely blonde girl was returning to her home. "Oouuh…" Girl sighed heavily. "Everyone just went ahead and left me behind… Oh, well… Mira-san and Levy-chan's team need someone to care of them, so I guess that's me…" Her face was still a bit sad because of Phantom actions.

"Huh? A sunshower?" Lucy wondered when rain begun suddenly. "Ah? Who is it?" Lucy asked as she saw someone coming her way.

Lucy saw a young girl, approximately of the same age as blonde herself, with long blue hair, dressed into a navy blue coat, a fur shawl as well as Cossack-styled hat. "Drip drip drop" girl said, moving toward Lucy. When she came closer, Lucy was able to distinguish strange, deep-blue, pupil-less eyes. "Yes… Juvia is a rain woman. Juvia brings rain. Drip drip drop" Lucy looked at weird girl in amazement until girl came near the Lucy. Then she asked "What do you bring?" and without waiting for the answer she continued her way, passing by Lucy, freaking her out. "It was a pleasure to meet you. Fare thee well."

"What the heck?!" Lucy yelled, completely confused by girl's behavior.

"Non! Non! Non!" Suddenly, strange voice sounded from nowhere. "Non! Non! Non!" This voice made blue-haired girl to stop and turn around. "Non! Non! Non! Non! Non! Non! Non!" Strange, green-haired man in brown suite appeared literally from the pavement. "With non of 3, 3, 7, I say to you, bonjour!"

"Another weirdo!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Jivia-sama, you mustn't abandon your job now," Weird man announced.

"Monsieur Sol" Said girl, apparently named Juvia.

"My monocle, it whispers to me, yes. It tells me that this mademoiselle is our beloved cible!" Sol said, holding his monocle.

"Oh, so it is this girl?" Juvia said emotionlessly.

"Cible? Target?!" Lucy became worried.

"Pardon my manners. I'm Sol of the Earth, you can call me Monsieur Sol" Man announced, continuing to play the ape.

"I am Juvia of the Deep. The member of element four who brings rain" Girl introduced herself (A/N: KanJi reads – Juvia of the Great Sea)

"We've come from the great phantom lord to welcome you," Sol said.

"Phantom!" Lucy yelled angrily "You're the ones who did that to Mira-san!" She grabbed her keys but in the next moment she was entrapped into bubble of water.

"Non, non, non. I'd like to clear your misunderstanding with three nons. Attacking the Mirajane-sama and Levy-sama, wrecking your guild… all were done by Nelliel-sama and Gajeel-sama. Though, it is true that this was done through a consensus of our guild." While Sol was speaking, Lucy struggled to break out from water bubble.

"Bwah! What is this!?" Lucy cried as she managed to pull her head out of the bubble, but it quickly engulfed her again.

"Juvia's water lock can't be broken…" Blue-haired girl said.

"Mmm! Tres bien! [From French: very well]" Sol approved as Lucy began to lose her consciousness.

"Don't worry, Jivia will not kill you… for it's Jivia's job to bring you back… Lucy Heartfilia-sama" Blue haired girl explained, "Capture complete"

"Victorie!" Sol announced as Lucy's keys remain lay on the pavement.

* * *

August 27, X784, 5:35 PM, Oak Town, Phantom Lord's main representative base.

At the Phantom Lord building, Fairy Tail continued to push back the enemies. It was obvious now that powers are not equal – even weakest members of Fairy Tail were stronger then their Phantom's counterparts. Phantom Lord's mages had numerical advantage, but it was gradually reduced, although Makarov, Gray and Natsu used only their simple magic while Erza didn't use magic at all.

Natsu made another deep breath and consumed aggression from another portion of defeated enemies. "Let battle rejoice!" He shouted.

"What the hell with this guy?!"

"What he've done to our mages?"

"Could it be…? He's…"

"On your knees, pups! **Senjin no Dogō!** [War God's Howl]" Natsu breathed out a massive crimson energy stream in the form of a tornado-like blast toward group of phantom members, blowing them away.

"**Aisu Meiku: Ransu!"** [Ice Make: Lance] Gray created multiple lances made of ice that he direct toward another group of enemy mages, taking them down.

"**Uddo Meiku: Baironto Apurōchi!" **[Wood Make: Violent Approach] Laki cast some weird-named spell to create a massive spiked ball made of wood, and shot it at the enemies who tried to climb up to the balcony to get Bisca.

"**Majikku Ringu: Tsuisutā!" **[Magic Ring: Twister] Loke touched his Magic ring, generating a powerful storm in the surrounding area, which enveloped the several Phantom mages and sent them flying.

"**Yasei no Bousou!"** [Nature: Run Wild] Reedus drew multicolored boars on his belly, which then shot from it in all directions, freaking out enemies by weird magic.

Several enemy mages run toward Sin, trying to get at least anybody, but Lil dragon soared in the air and spat a bolt of blue energy on the floor, freezing it. Enemies slipped and collided into each other.

"They're ours now!" Wakaba said as he, Elfman, Macao, Cana and Loki came close to Erza and Natsu. The Phantom Lord's numbers were still great but they now stood in a circle around Fairy Tail mages, not daring to approach.

"NUUUAAAHH! Man. Man! MAAN! Being a man… is what a man it's all about!" Using his **Bīsuto Āmu: Reputairu** [Beast Arm: Reptile], Elfman raged in the middle of the enemy crowd.

"What the hell he's saying?!"

"What's with this arm?!"

"It's Take Over!"

"That big dude took over a monster in his arm!"

"There's really magic like that?!"

"It's Elfman! Absorbing the power of monsters that he defeated into his arm…"

"He's Beast Arm Elfman!"

While Elfman was working out his fury on enemy mages, Natsu came closer to Erza, who just slashed another bunch of enemies. "It's weird… They just threw their regular members into this mincer? Where are their seniors?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this… something is very wrong here…" Erza shared her concerns.

"Erza! Natsu! I'll leave the rest here to you guys!" Makarov shouted as he climbed to the balcony and headed to the door to upper level, throwing away some Phantom mages "Jose is likely on the top floor… I'll teach him a lesson of good manners!"

"Take care, master!" Erza replied.

"Burn his ass down, Jii-san!" Natsu cheered for his master.

As Makarov blew up the door and went for the upper levels, Gajeel and Nelliel had no more reasons to hide. "Gi hi hi! Now when that pain in the ass is gone… I won't have to hold back anymore!" Iron Dragon Slayer shouted and jumped down from the girder where he and Nelliel were hiding.

"True. We can finally show the sinners falsity of their path" Nelliel said as she stepped forward and disappeared.

"**Tetsuryūkon!" **Gajeel shouted as he landed on the edge of the balcony and transformed his right arm into iron club. He swung it around, smashing two Fairy Tail mages into the floor, along with several phantom members.

"Nab! Warren!" Wakaba shouted worriedly.

"What's wrong with this guy?! He even attacking his own comrades!" Alzack exclaimed in slight shock.

"Come and get me scum! **Tetsu no Metsuryū Madōshi **[Iron Dragon Slayer], Gajeel-sama, is at your service!" Gajeel the Black Steel introduced himself. [A/N It's Gajeel's real alias – Romaji reads – _Kurogane no Gajiru_]

On the other side of the hall, Max and Vijeeter suddenly flew forward head over heels as if they got very hard kick from behind. A second later, with a flash of green light, Nelliel appeared where Fairy Tail mages were. "I am Nelliel-sama, **Mu**** no Metsuryū Madōshi** [Dream Dragon Slayer], and I came to make you pay for your sins" Nelliel the Dreamwalker introduced herself [Romaji – _Kurayumi no Nerairu_]. Tall and curvaceous girl, with weird manner of speech and explicit religious attributes, attracted even more attention than Gajeel.

"You! You the one who abused my source of booze!" Cana appeared in front of Nelliel with three cards ready, she knew that this girl is the one who abused Fairy Tail's waitress. "Lightning, Reverse Tower, Lovers! **Jōruto no Feito!** [Jolt of Fate]" Cana threw all cards at the enemy, generating a massive electric shock. But when she released her spell Nelliel disappeared with green flash and Cana electrocuted a dozen of Phantom members who was behind green-haired girl.

"It seems your sin is drunkenness…" Dreamwalker said as she appeared behind Cana and sniffed the air. "When I'm walking through dream, I'm shielded from the eyes of sinners," she added.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!" Cana yelled as she prepared three more cards but Nelliel again disappeared, appearing behind drunkard, and slammed her boot into the back of her head. Cana flew forward as Nelliel disappeared once more, presumably to follow her. Cana quickly rose on her feet, preparing for the attack from nowhere, but suddenly Erza appeared in front of Cana and struck the air by her metallic boot, in the jump. It looked strange but apparently Erza hit something as Nelliel was knocked out from her invisibility mode and crashed into one of the tables, destroying it.

"The hands that shed innocent blood…" Erza said as she tilted her head.

"Someone managed to hit Nelliel!?" Phantom members were shocked "Didn't thought it's possible!"

"So you knew about seven deadly sins…" Nelliel rose on her feet. "Impressive, shorty…"

"How did you call me, you walking lamppost?!" Erza yelled angrily. Actually, her height was 169 cm (5' 6.5"), quite normal for a girl, also she fit Natsu perfectly (he's 179 cm or 5' 10.5"), yet Nelliel's words managed to enrage her. [A/N: Char's height according to Mashima's Q&A. Natsu's real height is 172 but my Natsu is 10 months older so he's taller. Nelliel's height is 176]

While two girls were staring at each other, on the other side of the hall Elfman, Macao and Wakaba were 'fighting' against Gajeel. Actually, it couldn't be even called a 'fight' – Black Steel just played with Fairy Tail wizards. "A Man!... Still a man even if he's scum!" Elfman shouted as he rushed toward Gajeel with his **Bīsuto Āmu: Sutōn Buru** [Beast Arm: Stone Bull] ready to strike. However, Phantom's ace blocked this attack with ease. Macao used his **Pāpuru Rein** [Purple Rain] spell, launching dozens of purple flame bullets into Iron Dragon Slayer as Wakaba used **Sumōku Hāpūn** [Smoke Harpoon], throwing harpoon made of smoke into the enemy. But Gajeel made a deep breath and simply blew away both spells, without magic – just by powers of his lungs.

"No way!" Wakaba exclaimed, "He just blew away my spell?!"

"He's strong…" Macao mumbled, staring at Gajeel.

"Gi hi hi! Weaklings!" Iron Dragon laughed and swung around his leg, transformed into iron club. Macao and Wakaba fell on the floor to avoid it as Elfman blocked the attack but several Phantom members were smashed into the wall.

"You bastard! Look what you're doing to your own comrades!" Elfman yelled, eyeing the beating of Phantom members but suddenly crimson tornado-like blast landed a direct hit on Gajeel, sending him crashing into the bar counter and scattering Elfman, Wakaba and Macao along. It seems Natsu decided to intervene.

"Natsu! You're an asshole! Why you got in the way of manly fight?!" Beast Soul wizard yelled in frustration.

"This one is mine," Natsu replied indifferently, leaving little room for arguing.

"**Tetsuryū no Gōken!" **[Iron Dragon's Hard Fist] Gajeel covered his right arm by iron scales and rushed toward Natsu, everyone who were standing around could feel a shockwave from the blow. Natsu blocked the attack by his elbow but was pushed back by the power of the blow, yet he got no apparent damage.

"For our guild, Mira and the others… I'll make you dance on the red-hot frying pan!" Natsu shouted as he suddenly grabbed Gajeel's hand and threw him up. While Iron Dragon was in mid-air Natsu attacked him with powerful uppercut **"Senjin no Saiken!"** [War God's Crushing Fist] Gajeel flew up head over heels, crashing into several girders before sprouting a sharp, harpoon-like blade from the sole of each of his feet. He planting these blades in the ceiling, and looked at Natsu, 'standing' upside down.

"So, is that all you got, Ravager?" Gajeel asked with insolent smirk.

"Don't you worry, you'll see what I got…" Natsu hissed as crimson mist engulfed his body and floor started to crack under his feet.

On the other side of the room Erza fought with Nelliel in hand to hand combat. "You're pretty good, for such a little sinful girl…" Nelliel admitted, it was hard to say – intentionally or not she was mocking Erza. "Hey, what's this heathen symbol on your back?" Dreamwalker suddenly asked.

In her Lightning Empress Armor, upper part of Erza's back was completely exposed, so Natsu's Seal of God was seen to everyone. Actually, Erza demonstrated it proudly, and Nelliel question, along with definition 'sinful little girl', infuriated her to the limit "All right, you mindless bitch, that's it!" Erza growled and made a deep breath, preparing to release her plasma breath and to reveal her new powers for everyone.

But suddenly entire building started to shake, making everyone to look upward.

"Wha…?!" "An Earthquake?!" "Wha-what is this?!" Phantom mages started to panic.

"This is gonna get ugly…" Gray smirked.

"This is master's fury…" Erza smiled, "The giant's fury that no one of you punks will be able to stop!"

"That can't be happening! The entire guild is trembling!" One of enemy mages cried in shock.

"That's the real man – master Makarov!" Elfman said with evil smile.

"Prepare yourself – as long as master is with us – we're unstoppable!" Natsu shouted with his arms in the air.

On the top level of Phantom guild hall's tower, Makarov entered Jose's 'throne room', which started to crumble from master's immense might, fueled by righteous fury. Jose, on the other hand, was imperturbably sitting on his 'throne'. "Jose… What the hell do you think you're doing?! Huh?!" Makarov demanded an answer.

"Well, hello there, long time no see, Makarov-san" Phantom master replied calmly. "It must've been since the regular meeting six years ago… I'm afraid I made a fool of myself then. I clearly overdid it with the sake…"Jose spoke with calm smile.

Annoyed by Jose's talking, Makarov enlarged his right arm using his "Titan" magic and slammed his huge fist into Jose's throne, destroying it. "I did not come here to chat with you, insolent prick!" However, when smoke faded, Jose remained unharmed, as Makarov understood that this is just a **Shinentai** [Thought Projection]. "Just an image?! You already gone from this guild?!" Makarov asked, enraged even more.

"A battle among the two of the Ten Wizard Saints can cause extraordinary natural occurrences. I prefer a rational victory." Jose replied, retaining his calm smile.

"Where are you?! Come fight me fair and square!" Makarov demanded but suddenly an additional image appeared near Jose's feet – tied and unconscious Lucy. "LUCY?!" Makarov yelled in shock, "Why?!". Without warning Jose drew his dagger and raised it, as if preparing to stab blonde. "NO?!" Makarov screamed in horror as he rushed forward. He didn't noticed that extremely tall and massive man in green loose coat, Aria of the Sky, so called Pinnacle of the Element Four, appeared behind him. Fairy Tail master noticed the threat, but it was too late. _'Shit! I didn't even notice his presence…'_ was Makarov's last thoughts before Aria used his **Kūiki: Metsu** [Airspace: Perish] spell.

"So… So… So sorrowful!" Aria exclaimed as Makarov was encased into the bubble of very thin air and sent crushing into the floor as his magic powers was completely drained.

"Ho ho ho… There's no way we'd kill Lucy-sama, right? At least not yet…" Jose smirked as he plunged his dagger into the floor.

'_What's this?! Why I can't use my powers?!'_ Makarov thought as airspace magic continued to press him to the floor.

"Please don't tell me you don't know who Lucy Heartfilia-sama is, while she belongs to your guild," Jose noted. "Well… I guess it's none of your business anymore…"

Airspace magic made a breach in the tower's floor and Makarov started to fall down, to the main hall, crashing through the ceiling. "It's too sorrowful!" Aria sobbed "Where does this sorrow cometh from?! Ah! Is this sorrow due to the world losing a great mage?!"

With loud 'BOOM' Makarov fell down on the ground level's floor, gaining everyone's attention.

"Something fell down…" Gray noted.

"What's it?" Elfman wondered.

However, both Fairy Tail slayers understood _who_ it was…

"Master?!" Erza gasped.

"Jii-san?!" Natsu yelled.

"Ah… Ugh… My… my magic power…" Makarov croaked.

Everyone become silent eyeing defeated Makarov as Natsu and Erza were trembling in shock and disbelief, "Impossible…" God slayer whispered.

At the countryside, inside the real Phantom Lord HQ, Jose picked up Lucy's body. "Aria-san's magic consists of taking away an opponent's magic powers, or in the other words, making it 'perish'. This victory is ours" Phantom master concluded.

Back in the Phantom's representative base, all Fairy Tail mages were greatly shocked by Makarov's defeat. "My magic… my power…" Old man croaked. Natsu and Erza dashed to their master, having forgot about their enemies.

"Tch… The fun is already over?" Gajeel smirked.

"It seems that source of sin perished…" Nelliel noted and disappeared with green flash.

"Master! Hang in there!" Erza cried as she fell on her knees and grabbed master's body to check his condition.

"Damn. I can't sense his power, there's no magic in him!" Natsu exclaimed "What happened up there?!"

"Wait, no magic?!" Gray asked as he punched one of the enemy mages who came too close "Does it mean that he's nothing but a plain geezer now?"

"How?! How such a _man_ could be defeated?!" Elfman asked in disbelief.

Phantom mages quickly perked up:

"Excellent! Now their battle strength is decreased by half!"

"Get them!"

"Let's crush them!"

Erza heard their talking _'This is not good…' _she though, wiping tears from her eyes (yes, from both).

With their morale spirit greatly increased Phantom wizards started to quickly overcome Fairy Tail, whose morale now was below the plinth.

'_No, it's not only our combat strength! Low morale is our main weakness now…'_ Erza thought before looking at god slayer, who seems to have the same idea. "Natsu!" Erza looked at her beloved.

"Agree!" He replied, nodding. He's a warrior, not berserker.

"Retreat!" Erza ordered, swinging her hand "Everyone! Back to the guild!"

"No way!" Gray retorted.

"Men don't retreat!" Elfman yelled.

"I can still fight!" Macao assured.

"Me too!" Bisca agreed, however, both were worn out.

"Who among you is going to fight with Jose then?!" Natsu asked, looking at his guild members. No one volunteered.

"We're retreating! That's an order" Erza shouted.

"My my… Going home already? Gi hi hi…" Gajeel smirked, looking at Fairy Tail's retreat.

"Sorrowful…" Aria's voice sounded from above Gajeel, who still was under the girder, upside-down.

"Aria… You're as creepy as always" Black Steel looked at airspace mage "I'm surprised that you defeated that geezer"

"All part of master Jose's plan…" Aria replied before he again started to sob "Wonderful!"

"Stop crying at everything, it's almost a sin…" Nelleil said as she appeared near Aria with green flash. "Can I assume that sinner named Lucy is captured?"

"We've confined her at our headquarters," Airspace mage replied.

Erza's eyes widened in shock as she overheard talking of three enemy's S-class mages.

"Nelliel!" Erza yelled.

"Will settle it some other time, shorty…" Dreamwalker replied as Aria used his magic to teleport himself and both dragon slayers away.

"Erza, c'mon!" Natsu took her hand "We have to cover other's retreat!"

"Wait Natsu!" Erza pointed up "I heard their talking – they captured Lucy!"

"What?! How?! We left her to care… Damn!" Natsu understood that while regular Phantom members were here, being whipping boys for Fairy Tail, members of the Element Four were in Magnolia.

"Natsu we have to help her, we can't leave one of ours to Phantom!" Erza exclaimed.

Natsu stood for several seconds, trying to figure out some plan. Phantom crowd were closing, pushing back Fairy Tail wizards. "Okay, that's how we'll act" God slayer decided. He turned to Phantom crowd and chose the random mage. **"Senjin no Shōkya!"** [War God's Shock Kick] Natsu slammed his foot into that unlucky man, blast from his kick scattered several enemy mages and sent targeted Phantom member crashing through wall. Erza understood his plan without any words. "Sin!" Natsu called for his familiar, "Erza need your help, get here!" He ordered before placing his hands on his bride's shoulders. "My love, please, extreme caution. If they took Lucy in secret, then it means they need her for something, unharmed. If situation become dangerous – ran. We'll figure out something later…" Natsu knew that she has a habit to rescue others, setting up herself.

Despite the situation, Erza smiled a little, touching Natsu's cheek by her palm. "Don't worry, I will be back soon, I promise…" she said before turning to Lil boney dragon "C'mon Sin, I'm ready!" She pointed at the hole in the wall.

"Yes ma'am!" Sin reported and picked her up, and together they flew out through the hole made by phantom member.

"Natsu what the hell! How can we retreat like this?!" Gray yelled as he run closer to god slayer, "We've got to avenge Mira and the others!" Most of Fairy Tail members were already running toward exit as Phantom mages continued to advance. Elfman took Makarov.

"We will, Gray," Natsu replied "Go to the exit and place your shield there, I don't want the others to get hit, c'mon!"

Gray's eyes widened as he understood what Natsu want to do as they rushed toward the exit. When all Fairy Tail mages were outside and Phantom's crowd was near the door, Natsu turned around and raised his arms to the sky: **"****Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku!"** [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath] Natsu made a huge crimson energy missile and launched it into Phantom base through its door.

As soon as Natsu launched his missile, Gray used his magic: **"Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo!"** [Ice Make: Shield]. Ice mage made a large, flower-like shield made of ice just in time. Powerful blast obliterated the entire representative base and knocked out most of enemy mages. Whole mount where Phantom's fortress stood now was wiped clean. "Hmm, this blast was more powerful than the last time" Gray noted contentedly. Thanks to six weeks of intense training, power of Natsu's spells increased.

"Thanks" Natsu replied, "You too managed to make this shield faster than when we fought against Lullaby" Natsu replied as he made a deep breath, consuming unreleased aggression from knocked out Phantom members. Fairy Tail mages were looking at him in shock, for most of them it was the first time when they saw Natsu's full power that close.

"Incredible…"

"Now I understood why he got his nickname…"

"Such a devilish force…"

"C'mon people, let's get out of here, I don't want council agents to find us here," Natsu ordered, heading down from the hill, "We must get wounded back to Magnolia"

* * *

August 27, X784, 6:05 PM, Oak Town's countryside, on approach to Phantom Lord's HQ.

"Oh, you're awake…" Erza said friendly, looking at Phantom's mage.

"Wha…!? Titania!?" Man yelled in shock.

"Shh… It's okay…" She said by calming voice, "Please, tell me, where's Lucy?"

"I… I don't know… who is that…" Man stuttered, crawling back from Erza.

"Oh… too bad… I think I have no choice but to punish you then…" Titania said with falsely sad voice.

"Hey! You promised that you'll allow me to consume his soul!" Sin sat on the large stone nearby, "I want to grow bigger!"

Erza looked at him in surprise but then she understood his idea "Did I?" She asked… "Oh well, maybe so… All right, go ahead" She waved her hand carelessly.

"HEEEEK! No! Please don't! Don't let this thing to consume my soul!" Phantom mage threw himself at Erza's feet. "Please! Our HQ is located on the hill straight ahead! Maybe she's over there! Just get this thing away from me!"

"Sweet simplicity…" Sin shook his head as Erza gave him a high five.

"C'mon, Sin!" Titania rushed forward, leaving frightened and confused Phantom mage behind.

* * *

August 27, X784, 6:23 PM, Oak Town's countryside, Phantom Lord's HQ.

"What you're gonna do when we arrive at the headquarters?" Sin asked Erza, he was riding on her shoulder.

"I'll try to find Lucy without being caught" Erza shrugged, "Though, sneak and find never was my strong point…"

"Erza, look!" Sin yelled, pointing at one of the Phantom HQ's towers. "Someone fell out!"

"It's Lucy!" Eyes of she-dragon recognized the blonde, **"****Seikō Kudō!****"** [Starlight Drive] Erza used her self-improving spell and dashed forward at high speed.

"ERZA!" Lucy yelled, calling for scarlet-haired dragon slayer. She just jumped out from Phantom's sky prison after busting Jose's balls.

"I catch!" Erza shouted, jumping forward. She managed to grab Lucy when she was two meters away from the ground and both girl flew crushing into the HQ's stone fence, head over heels.

"Lucy?! What happened?!" Sin asked in amazement as Erza found her head pressed to the ground by Lucy's boobs.

"Lucy, get off me!" Erza demanded, gasping for air and pushing blonde aside, "Ouch! Careful!" Erza still wore her Lightning Empress Armor and her long braid hooked for the button of Lucy's blouse. Titania rose on her feet, listening for something.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Lucy whimpered but Erza roughly picked her on shoulder and began to run, with her 'Drive'-improved speed.

"You can tell me your sad story later, let's get out!" Titania said while running, "we're going back to the guild!" She got what she came for, and Erza had no intentions to try her luck with something else.

Up there, on the sky prison, Jose was pissed off to the limit, "How dare you do that to me?! You little bitch! You all pay me for this!"

* * *

_Spell list:_

**Senjin ****no ****Sōken** – War God's Twin Blade

**Aisu Meiku: Hanmā** – Ice Make: Hammer

**Pāpuru Netto** – Purple Net

**Sumōku Kurasshu** – Smoke Crush

**Ganzu Majikku: Burasuto Buritto** – Guns Magic: Blast Bullet

**Hōmingu Shotto** – Homing Shot

**Majikku Kādo: ****Torunēdo** – Magic Cards: Tornado

**Teiku Ōbā: ****Bea Āmu** – Take Over: Bear Arm

**Senjin no Dogō** – War God's Howl

**Aisu Meiku: Ransu** – Ice Make: Lance

**Uddo Meiku: Baironto Apurōchi** – Wood Make: Violent Approach

**Majikku Ringu: Tsuisutā** – Magic Ring: Twister

**Yasei no Bousou** – Nature: Run Wild

**Bīsuto Āmu: Reputairu** – Beast Arm: Reptile

**Tetsuryūkon** – Iron Dragon's Club

**Jōruto no Feito** – Jolt of Fate

**Bīsuto Āmu: Sutōn Buru** – Beast Arm: Stone Bull

**Pāpuru Rein** – Purple Rain

**Sumōku Hāpūn** – Smoke Harpoon

**Tetsuryū no Gōken** – Iron Dragon's Hard Fist

**Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Shinentai** – Thought Projection

**Kūiki: Metsu** – Airspace: Perish

**Senjin no Shōkya** – War God's Shock Kick

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Tonryūsoku** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: Chaos Dragon Breath

**Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo** – Ice Make: Shield

**Seikō Kudō** – Starlight Drive

* * *

**Note:** As many of you already understood – OC's prototype is _Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck_ from _Bleach_, all references belongs to _Kubo Tite. _She has the same manner of speech and clothes from her espada time, without red marks and mask, of course.

…

Well, this is it people. Chapter thirteen has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _REVIEW!_ A lots of reviews will encourage me to work faster! See you in the next chapter – **For Blood And Honor.**


	14. For Blood And Honor

Good morning people (or good _'your local time of the day_')! I'm here with my new chapter. Since there will be no new manga chapters at this week and at the next week, I can't comply about manga, so here's just a new chapter for my story xD

**Thanks everyone who left the review, I'm glad to know readers' opinion.**

...

Answers for the **review**ers:

**DragonSlayer96: **Thanks man. I really tried to make a good OC, glad you liked it.

**The Dark Dragen****, ****Silent Reader 6100****, ****Toaneo07 Ver2.0: **Many thanks people, I'll try to keep up!

**DarkKnight96:** Patience please, it will happen soon enough xD

**DraXXter:** At your service xD

**Steam Powered Crow: **Actually, it will be the opposite (about your guess), you'll see.

**FanFictionHunter:** _Tower of Din_ will be mentioned much more than once. Actually, it's kinda keystone for the story.

**Mira-san:** Thanks. To be honest it's the only female character I know to fit this role. I use characters with prototypes so it easier for readers to imagine them.

…

Now, let's proceed. This chapter is the middle of Phantom's arc. It contains all the side battles, but also some original episodes, for example here is the tiny preview for Tower of Din. Good reading. Three major battles (yes, three) and battle between Jose and Makarov will be in the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter XIV – For Blood And Honor**

…

August 28, X784, 7:45 AM, town of Magnolia, Fairy Tail guildhall.

Road from Oak Town took the entire night, and most of the guild members spent this night in the train. Master Makarov was delivered for the treatment to Porlyusica-san's treehouse. The old lady explained the situation about Makarov to Alzack and Bisca and then kicked their asses by broom, forcing them to return to the guild. Other guild members came here straight from the station.

Master's recovery will require some time, and all were in depression because of their yesterday's defeat. To be honest – right now Fairy Tail was a very pitiful sight. Dusty old cellar, filled by beaten up people with gloomy faces. Only eleven guild members were mostly unharmed: four members of team Natsu, Elfman, Cana, Loke, Reedus, Alzack, Bisca and Laki. Everyone else got injuries of varying severity:

"Ugh…" "Fuck…" "Argh…" "Shit…" "Ouch..." "Son of the…" – these were the most commonly used words in the guildhall right now. Most people had their limbs and/or heads and bodies bandaged.

Everyone's mood was below the plinth:

"I can't believe we had to retreat!"

"So degrading!"

"Dammit!"

"At least we got some revenge at them…"

"Natsu got revenge… while we were running like beaten pups…"

"Yeah… besides, he just smashed their regular members…"

"True… those who really responsible got away…"

"And that was not their HQ, either…"

Some people were retain fighting spirit:

"This is their headquarters," Macao pointed at the place on the map, "If we attack them with long distance magic from the high ground to the southwest…"

"We're bringing as many bombs lacrimas as possible!" Wacaba exclaimed angrily.

"Bring some powerful magic sheets from the storage for the holder mages!" Max requested. However, despite their spirit was strong, bodies were weakened…

Lucy was sitting on the barrel near temporary request board, barely holding her tears, as sense of guilt was burning inside her. "What's the matter? Still uneasy?" Gray asked casually.

"No… It's not that… It's just… I'm sorry…" Lucy stuttered, looking in the floor.

"Well, it's the fate of rich heiress' to get chased," Elfman stated with stern look, "And it's a men's duty to protect them!" He added with pride.

"Don't say things like that!" Gray growled at Take Over mage.

"Sin," Lucy called for little boney dragon, "Natsu figured out that I'm ran away from home, did he?" Blonde remembered how easily god slayer found out about her origin.

Sin nodded, he was sitting on the edge of the request board, "Of course."

"Yeah… it's almost impossible to hide anything from him…" Gray scratched his head, "Fortunately, he's not interested in others' dirty clothes."

"I wasn't tried to hide anything from anyone…" Lucy said, still looking in the floor. "After I ran away from home, I just didn't want to talk about it. I wanted to leave everything behind…" Lucy looked at Sin, "For a full year, he never showed any interest in his runaway daughter. And now he suddenly wants me back? My father went to such a terrible lengths to take me back… why?"

"I'm not Natsu, yet I can try to guess…" Sin replied. "You hit seventeen recently, so now you're of marriageable age. Apparently there is a good opportunity for political marriage…"

Lucy gave Sin a sad look, it seem she has exactly the same thoughts. "He's the worst!" She cried through teeth as tears began to swell in her large eyes. "But... when you get down to it, it's originally my fault for running away from home, right?"

"That's not true! Your father is the bad guy here!" Elfman tried to cheer up Lucy.

"You idiot!" Gray yelled at big guy.

"I mean, Phantom!" Elfman quickly corrected himself, making a stupid smile.

"Yes," Sin agreed, "It never was about you, Lucy. It was just an excuse. They wrecked our guild and harmed our friends, so now we'll fight for blood and honor, and it has nothing to do with some old fool who want to sell his daughter in exchange for profitable contract"

"Sin!" Gray barked at boney creature as blonde whimpered at Sin's words.

"Oh, sorry Lucy, I've been too carried away…" Lil dragon apologized.

"No, you right…" Lucy whimpered, "So, you think that things won't go back to normal if I go home?"

"No. Besides, even if it would, this is still the stupidest thing to do. No one's ambitions worth foredooming yourself for unhappy life full of sadness," Sin replied.

"Thank you guys…" Lucy gave them a faint smile through tears.

"He's right, now you're a Fairy Tail mage," Gray added, "And there's a rule – Fairy Tail's sorceresses marry only for love, and you know it, right?" Ice mage nodded toward Erza, who was sitting with Natsu at the table in the far corner of the cellar.

However, conversation at that table was not about the wedding, not at all…

"If only… if only I went with him… instead of fooling around with that stupid green-haired bitch…" Erza said in frustration, "…pathetic… it's all my fault! I shou…"

"Enough!" Natsu cut her off mid-sentence, he sat across the table from her, "I know your love for torturing yourself, but I won't let you, it's my privilege."

Even in current situation, Erza couldn't hold it and smiled a little, snorting "Pervert…"

"Warchief gave us a direct order, none of us had a choice but to comply" Natsu continued, "Besides, master is much more experienced mage than we are, so if he didn't notice a trap, how anyone of us might help him?" Okay, he exaggerated a bit – both he and Erza possesses an enhanced senses, unlike their master, and they probably could sense Aria's presence early, and Erza knew it, but still she felt herself easier a bit.

"Thank you…" She whispered, clenching Natsu's palms, thanking him for that she has his palm to clench… She knew, of course, that one day this salmon-haired sadistic boy will request some sort of compensation for it, and it will be a very kinky sort of compensation, so she'd better be ready for it… but now isn't the time for such thoughts. Erza looked around "Damn… we have so many injured…"

"Does not matter…" Natsu replied, "Most of them are useless anyway". It was rude and cruel statement, but truth is always rude and cruel. Erza sighed, actually she knew as good as Natsu that, even when completely healthy, most of Fairy Tail mages are no match for Element Four, Phantom's Dragon slayers and, especially, Jose. Apart from Natsu and Erza, only Gray and maybe, just maybe, Elfman and Cana can oppose enemy senior mages somehow.

Suddenly they both heard the sound of breaking glass – it seems Cana finally managed to contact Laxus, and, unsurprisingly, he refused to help, apparently in a rude manner, since Cana smashed the communication lacrima and now she was steaming from anger. Also, according to magic cards, scattered all over the floor, she wasn't able to found Mystogan.

Erza stood up, came to Natsu and sat on his lap, pressing her forehead to his, Natsu felt that she's trembling a little. Natsu perfectly understood her. According to the guild rules – person, who was the S-class mage longer than any other, remains in charge in master's absence. Actually, Erza likes to be in charge, but… leading the team, which consists of three skilled mages (and Lucy) is one thing, but now she suddenly became an acting guild master of a guild that is on verge of complete annihilation. Phantom came not for Lucy, they came for blood, and they'll come again.

Situation was almost desperate. Last hope that someone will come to help faded away. Natsu and Erza discussed possible scenarios many times, they both were able to soberly assess their opponents. Mistogan's absence can be tolerated – even without him it's possible to take out the Element Four, Gajeel and Nelliel. But what to do with Jose? None of those present is match for him.

Master Makarov certainly can deal with him, but he's out of commission. Laxus has a fair chance against Phantom Lord master, but he appeared to be a complete asshole. And Gildarts… well, no one actually thought about him – he might be on the other side of the continent now, may be even farther…

"What shall we do, Natsu?" Erza asked quietly. That was the question that Natsu asked himself for the last three hours.

"About ten weeks ago, while you was on you four-week mission, I took a request to exterminate the gang of robbers and capture their leader. They occupied an old fort, three days' journey to the south east of here, on the train and then on foot. I took them out but building remained mostly intact. Not many people knows about it, I think we can hide there until master recover…" Natsu suggested. Erza could feel how hard it was for Natsu to say these words. No, he was fine with tactical retreats, but that what he suggested right now was just a stampede.

"You're suggesting to leave the guild and run?" Erza asked emotionlessly.

"I'm suggesting to leave the building and save our friends…" Natsu replied.

Erza let out a heavy sigh "This is hard to take in… How such a thing could happen? Less than two days ago I woke up happy. Yes, I'm worried about my friends on tower of course, but… I was happy. And now I have to announce that we're going to abandon our home? I can imagine what will start when I'll say it..."

"Wanna me to say it?" Natsu asked.

Erza sighed again "No… at least one of us should keep his face, I'm already lost their respect yesterday… huh?" She suddenly looked at the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"Someone opened the guild door…" Erza replied, making Natsu to prick up the ears too. Now ears of she-dragon could hear that someone barefooted was walking by the wooden floor. Then this someone started down the stairs and entire guild gasped in shock when they saw who it was – it was Mirajane. She walked unsteadily, with visible efforts.

"N…nee-chan?!" Elfman stuttered.

"Mira-san?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.

"Are you insane?!" Natsu asked as he dashed to her and caught her body, just in time because legs refused to hold her weight any further and she started to fall. She was dressed into hospital gown, which was already dirty – it seems she fell several times on her way here. Her face and limbs was cowered by heavy bruises, and those who didn't see her after the attack were shocked.

"What the fuck you doing?!" Erza yelled at her in shock. "Mira, listen – it's not a big secret that I won't mind to see you suffering a bit, but that what you're doing now is just an insanity!"

Actually, Erza's statement shocked public even more, but Natsu ignored it "Mira, what happened?! Why did you come?!"

"No one… came to visit me… since yesterday…" She answered with the weak voice, "I was worried… thought something… went wrong…" She looked around the guildhall, gaining a confirmation of her worries.

"Right…" Natsu replied. True – they left Lucy to watch over Mira and others, but she was kidnapped, so no one visited the hospital for last 24 hours, "It seems to be your family trait to run from hospitals…"

"Well, _something_ went wrong, we get our asses kicked, but we can talk about it later, because you're going back to the hospital right now!" Erza ordered.

"Wait Natsu… many wounded… I want… to help…" Blue-eyed girl tried to retort.

"You yourself need help, in all ways, by the way." Erza replied, "Elfman! Take her back to the hospital and warn the personnel that they should watch over her!" Acting guild master ordered.

"Actually, wait a minute…" Natsu suddenly frowned, "Is local hospital safe? May be we should take her and Levy's team with us?"

"What are you talking about?" Gray wondered, "Take her with us… where? Natsu, Erza?"

But Erza just shushed at him "Shhh! Did you feel it?" She asked, looking upward.

"What is it?" Sin wondered, whole guild gathered around Mira.

"This," Erza replied, "Ground is shaking…"

Few seconds later not just Erza but everyone were able to feel vibrations of the earth. "Regular intervals… I don't like it…" Natsu said, placing Mirajane at one of the tables. "You two!" Natsu looked at two random guild members "Watch over her!" And Natsu rushed outside, as did everyone who was able to move freely. Noise was from the seaside, so they came out from the back door… and their jaws dropped as one as they saw THIS…

"WHAT IS THAT?!" All Fairy Tail mages yelled as one as they saw Phantom Lord's HQ, walking by the bottom of the gulf toward coastline on six mechanical legs – _six legged walking guild – Phantom Lord!_ Phantom's banners were waving on the wind…

"The guild… is walking?!" Wakaba yelled in shock.

"Is it… Phantom?!" Macao asked with the same shocked expression.

"I never imagine… they'd attack us like this…" Erza gasped in disbelief…

"I didn't anticipate… such scenario…" Natsu clenched his fists.

"What shall we do?!" Max and Warren screamed simultaneously, trembling in fear.

Jose stood on the open balcony, looking at the coast and Fairy Tail wizards. As guild stopped and sat down on the water, he gave an order: "Prepare the **Mahō Shūsoku Hō: Kihoshi** [Magical Convergent Cannon: Jupiter]"

"Jupiter?!" Erza yelled in horror, she overheard him even from such distance, "This is bad! Everybody, get down!" Erza knew that they have no chance to evacuate the wounded in time. "Natsu, I can't stop it!" Also she knew that her 'Knight' spells are too expensive now – Jupiter will burn out all her magic before its charge will be neutralized, "What we gonna do?!"

"Like in marriage vows – we're gonna share all good and bad things!" Natsu replied. "And we'll use a little help, Gray!" God slayer called for ice mage, "We need your help!"

Without further ado Gray dashed to Natsu "What do you need me to do?"

"Stand here," Natsu pointed at some point on the right of himself "I'm going to slice the charge, and you and Erza have to counter it with your magic!" Gray's eyes widened a bit as Natsu continued, "I know it sounds insane, but this is our only chance, give it everything you got! If we fail the guild hall will crumble and bury alive all of our wounded!"

"Obliterate them!" Jose gave an order.

"They're firing! Ready yourself!" Erza shouted as she heard Jose's order.

All Fairy Tail members were shocked and terrified as Jupiter's barrel started to shine:

"What are they doing?!"

"Don't tell me they're gonna try to stop the attack!"

"They may be strong but this is…"

"You'll gonna die!..."

"Silence!" Cana's yell interrupted the panic wails "We have no choice but to trust them!"

Enemy's cannon fired its charge. Powerful blinding ray of pure energy shot toward Fairy Tail.

Natsu raised his sword: **"****Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Mōi no Sōtai" **[Death Knight Combat Style: Fury of the Frost Emperor] Deathfrost magic engulfed Natsu's blade, extending itself further, forming larger magical blade, which Natsu held before himself.

Erza stood behind and to the left from Natsu. Instead of using her 'Adamantine Barrier' to block enemy shot, she decided to counter it with her dragon slayer's spell:

"_Night sky of the south…_

_Night sky of the north…_

_Come to my aid, fulfill my wish…_

_Falling star I want to unleash…_

**Seiryū no Keishō!** [Star Dragon's Comet]" She made a huge sphere of pure plasma, which shone even brighter than Jupiter's beam, and directed it forward.

Gray stood behind and to the right from Natsu. **"Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo!"** [Ice Make: Shield] Gray used a proven method, making a large, flower-like shield made of ice in front of himself. All other Fairy Tail mages cowered their heads and faces in horror.

As planned, Jupiter's beam clashed with Natsu's sword and was divided into two halves by Heavenly Blossom's magic enhanced blade, forming two lesser streams. Natsu's spell not only divided Jupiter's ray, but also neutralized part of it's energy.

Erza successfully countered her part of the ray by plasma ball as Gray managed to hold his shield, constantly channeling additional magic into it. Soon Jupiter's beam dried out with blinding flash. As their spells disappeared, all three mages fell on their knees, panting. When smoke cleared, guild building and all Fairy Tail mages appeared to be unharmed.

"Whoa… they stopped it…"

"They saved us…"

"Amazing…"

"But it wasn't easy…"

By the way, in panic and turmoil no one noticed the spell that Erza used to counter Jupiter's charge. Natsu neutralized about 35% of enemy shot, Erza about the same amount and Gray took everything that left. Erza took more because Natsu was unable to hold his sword exactly in the middle of ray.

"Impressive…" Jose voice was broadcasting through megaphones on Phantom guildhall's walls. "But how much magic you three have now, after taking Jupiter's charge head-on? Very little I think… you don't stand a chance. Hand over Lucy Heartfilia, right now!" Jose ordered angrily.

"You out of your mind, Jose?!"

"Where in the world you would find a guild that offers up its nakamas to an enemy?!"

"Lucy's a member of our family!"

Erza, Natsu and Gray, Instead of yelling as everyone else, stood up and showed their middle fingers to Jose, and soon entire guild joined them in sending this gesture to Phantom master.

"This is the only answer you'll get from us!" Erza shouted.

"Get the fuck outta here Jose, you won't get anything from us!" Natsu added.

Lucy stood in the middle of everyone, unable to hold tears from surge of emotions – she was burning from guilt but was very thankful to everyone who stood up to her defense.

"I see…" Jose said silently, infuriated by Fairy Tail's 'answer.' "Then we'll fire an even bigger and stronger Jupiter!" He yelled into megaphone in fury "Now struggle in this 15 minute terror until it's reloaded!"

As Fairy Tail mages heard Jose's words their hubris dropped significantly.

"What?!..."

"Jupiter?!"

"They're going to fire it again?!"

"Shit… May be we went a bit overboard with these fingers…" Gray mumbled.

At this moment, multiple soldiers, more than fifty, jumped out from Phantom guild's windows into the gulf and swam toward the coastline.

"Wha…?! Their soldiers are coming out?!"

"No way! Aren't they just going to fire Jupiter?"

"No mercy…"

"Feel the pain, Fairy Tail! You have two choices: get killed by my soldiers or die by Jupiter!" Jose's voice announced via broadcasting system.

"Impossible… Is he going to kill his men with Jupiter as well?!"

"He's just threatening us… he won't fire…"

"Yes, he will…" Cana said. "That's Jose's magic, **Shiēdo** [Shade]. They're not humans, they're just a ghost soldiers that Jose created" Cana turned toward senior mages "Okay guys, now what?"

"Natsu, can't you just blow up this guild like you did in Oak Town?!" Gray asked.

"If I could I'd done it before they fired" Natsu replied, "Look at these distortions around the guild building – this is a magic shield, and not a simple one, according to degree of distortion…" God slayer pointed at enemy guild.

Natsu looked at Erza – they both knew – evacuation is no longer an option. Now they have to fight. "We gotta do something about Jupiter," Erza said, "It's our top priority, we'll think what to do about Jose later. If we can't destroy it from outside then let's do it from inside"

"Okay. Cannon's barrel made of magic-resistant alloy, but Jupiter is powered by a massive power core, it is the easiest way to destroy such cannon," Natsu said.

"I'm with you" Gray reported.

"Destroying the Jupiter is the task for the real man!" Elfman also volunteered.

Erza looked first at Elfman, then at Cana. "Can you stand the ground while we'll be inside?"

"Yes. Loke and I will strengthen our defenses here, go" Cana replied.

"All right!" Loki agreed.

"C'mon then!" Natsu shouted, "We have to break through these shades first. Gray, can you make a stair so we could climb to the barrel from water?"

"Piece a cake" Gray replied.

"Okay, let's go!" Erza ordered. Four Fairy Tail mages rushed toward the coast, jumped down into the gulf and… disappeared with green flash.

"Hey!" Cana exclaimed, "What happened?! Where did they go?! Sin!"

"What's going on?!" Lil boney creature asked in surprise as he flew closer to the coast.

"That's what I'm asking!" Cana shouted as everyone stood like paralyzed – there were no signs of team Natsu and Elfman.

"14 minutes left…" Wakaba mumbled in shock.

"Oh… It seems your brave had-to-be saviors fell right into our trap…" Jose said through broadcasting system with false regret, "Who gonna save you now, Fairy Tail? Hand over Lucy, NOW!"

"Trap?!" Several Fairy Tail mages yelled in shock at the same time.

Lucy's heart wrung with pain and fear, but suddenly someone grabbed her hand and pulled her toward guildhall. Lucy turned her head only to see Mirajane. She was still weak and dressed into hospital gown, but her face was expressing some desperate determination. "Mira! What are…"

"Lucy, come this way!" Mira said, suppressing the weakness of her body by the force of her will. "We have a hideout! Let's stay there until this war is over!" Lokr turned around as he overheard girl's talking.

"No!" Lucy retorted, "Didn't you hear?! Natsu's team fell into a trap! We have to help them!"

"My brother is with them!" Mira yelled back, "Lucy, you think it's easy for me to go away while I have no idea what happened to him?!"

Lucy gulped "But… but… Mira, it's my fault that this happened!"

"No Lucy," Mira looked at stellar mage, "No one thinks that way. Jose fired Jupiter knowing that you're here, without hesitation. He knew you could die. You're just a bonus objective for him." Mira explained as she dragged Lucy into the guildhall's first floor, only Lord himself knows where she found the strength to do it, in her current condition. "We're fighting to honor all those who were defeated, for the honor of our guild, and to protect you…"

Truth in Mira's words make Lucy to look in the floor sadly as Mira waved her hand, using **Nemuri Shūmon** [Sleep Spell] on blonde. Blue-eyed girl caught Lucy's falling body, placed it on table, and started to undress her, it seems that her plan requires Lucy's clothes. She took Lucy's skirt, tank top and sandals.

'_Oh my God, Lucy!'_ Mira thought as she saw Lucy's underwear while she was undressing her, _'For whom you're so dressed up? Don't tell me… you have a boyfriend too… Scarlet bitch has Natsu, Bisca has Alzack, Cana has… many guys, if you too has someone then I'm the only lonely girl in this guild?!'_ Yeah, Mira forgot some other girls, and Bisca and Alzack aren't couple, but people usually see only that what they want to see when they pitying themselves… _'Mira, focus! You can sort this out later… if you'll survive, of course…'_ With these contradictive thoughts, Mirajane put Lucy's clothes on herself, as she dressed blonde into her own hospital gown. Then she called for one of the mages "Reedus! Get here, quickly! I need your help!" Big fellow rushed into the guildhall.

"Mira?! What's going on?!" He asked.

"Quickly, we can't let Jose to have Lucy, bring her to the hideout!" Mira ordered as she brought sleeping Lucy to the main guild entrance.

"Oui!" Reedus replied, following Mirajane. He quickly drew a carriage, drawn by two white horses on his own huge belly, and used his **Kaiga no Mahō** [Painting Magic] to transform the picture into a real carriage with real horses. Then he boarded the carriage, holding Lucy in his hands, and rode away.

When he left, Mira used **Henshin no Mahō** [Transformation Magic] to transform into Lucy. _'Lisanna, I wasn't strong enough to protect you, but I swear – I won't let anyone become a victim of my weakness again! I'll protect my friends any way I can!'_ With this noble vow, Mira returned to the guildhall.

On the backyard, Cana tried to decide what to do next. She didn't understand how team Natsu was caught into a trap and where are the now, and only 13 minutes left until Jupiter's next shot. "Sin!" She called for Natsu's familiar "Pick me up! Deliver me to this barrel!"

"Are you insane?!" Macao yelled in shock "You actually wanna try to destroy Jupiter?!"

"Cana cool down! You're gonna face the Element Four and Dragon Slayers!" Wakaba tried to reason her.

"I don't care! I'll better try my chances there than sit here and wait for obliteration! Sin, let's go!" Cana ordered.

"Okay! Hold on!" Sin replied, grabbed Cana by his boney claws and soared into the air.

"Alzack, Bisca, hold our ground!" Cana added as Jose's shades were already climbing on the shore.

* * *

(Inside the magic trap, with team Natsu)

"Gray, Elfman! Do you hear me?!" Natsu called for his team after about half a minute of examining the environment.

"Natsu?! What happened?! Where are you?!" Gray's voice called from somewhere, it sounds like from cave or other indoor place.

"Gray, listen carefully! Soon our realms will become completely separate and you won't be able to hear me any longer!" Natsu spoke very loud. "We're inside of kinda pocket in space, which layout was created based on your memory! To get out from that pocket, you two should find something that does not fit into that you remember! It may be anything, but should be like relatively large object, its size is comparable to human, destroy it and the pocket will be broken!"

"Natsu what is this magic?!" Elfman's voice sounded as from far away.

"I'll explain later!" Natsu replied by yell, "Just find the object that is not belong to your memories and destroy it! The place you are now will collapse by itself after some time, but we have no time to wait for it!" No one answered so it seems their dimensional pockets were completely divided.

Now Erza could talk to Natsu. "Natsu, what's going on? What is this magic? This looks like… _Tower of Heavens_! Though, only partially…"

"This magic is called **Kioku no Ami** [Trap of Memory]." Natsu replied, "It entraps a single person into the separate time-space for a short time, basically it works just like the ex-equip, but it stores people instead of stuff. However, like with the most types of magic, its effect is much lower when it used on living beings. This space can't exist for long, maximum 6 - 7 minutes, and can be easily broken from inside – you just need to destroy the **Y****ō****seki** [Keystone] of the space, which looks like bright sphere in the middle of black nowhere. Because of that, this spell was modified to take an appearance of place from entrapped person's memories, to hide the keystone beneath imaginable layout. There is still one crack in this spell however – keystone should be created with the trap, before targeted person could be entrapped, so keystone takes the shape of the object from caster's own memories. Usually this spell uses good memories, to make this person unwilling to leave the space before it collapse by itself…"

Natsu looked around and continued as Erza listened to him in confusion, "However, I think now we are facing Nelliel's version of this spell… damn. It managed to entrap not one but all four of us, thought it was divided into two separate time-spaces, and I have no idea how long it can exist by itself. Moreover, it made from our worst memories…"

"Insanity… I never heard about such magic…" Erza mumbled.

"Because it's counted as obsolete. It require a lot of magic and during the last few hundred years much more effective traps were invented, I only had read about this magic in old legends. However, Nelliel is a Shitsutta Mahō [Lost Magic] wielder…" Natsu clenched his fists. "Damn, this is bad… ironically it's especially bad because we were not separated but were entrapped together…"

"What you mean?" Erza wondered why Natsu thinks that this is bad to be trapped with her… she actually was glad that she's not alone here in this creepy environment from her past.

"Because it makes the task of finding the keystone much harder. Look around – half of this environment is _Tower of Din_," Natsu pointed at dark stone walls made of black marble. "But second half is the place from your memories," Natsu pointed at white granite wall. "Since we should find an object that doesn't belongs to our memories…"

"Okay, I understand," Erza nodded, "I never was in Tower of Din, so I can't say what actually belongs to your memory and what is not, and same goes to you…" Erza looked on her watch, "Damn! Only twelve minutes left until Jupiter's shot and we're stuck here…"

"I bet right now Gray and Elfman are wandering near the cave where Lisanna died, mixed with the ruins of Gray's hometown…" Natsu speculated, looking around. "Well, I doubt this place can exist for long…"

"But if it more than 7 - 8 minutes – our guild is done for! C'mon Natsu, we have to get out of here!" Erza exclaimed. "Damn you Nelliel! If this is a trap then she prepared it beforehand… Can they really were anticipating that we'll deflect Jupiter's first shot? And it means she was around here preparing the trap…"

"Yep… we messed it up… we underestimated Phantom, just like master did…" Natsu sighted.

"C'mon, let's go!" Erza shouted and they rushed to find a keystone. However – it won't be an easy task – they two have a lot of memories…

* * *

(Back to the real world, with Cana and Sin)

"Sin, fly there!" Cana pointed at cannon's muzzle, "I think that the easiest way to get to the core – through the barrel!"

"As you say," Sin replied and hovered right in front of the muzzle. Cana climbed into the barrel and started to crawl toward the power core as Sin followed her. "Wow, it's quite a long barrel…" Lil dragon noted.

At last they reached their destination. "Whoa…" Cana whistled, "I never saw anything like this before… is that a lacrima?" She pointed at large sphere with four harness of thick power cords connected to it, lacrima was surrounded by a complex machinery.

"Yeah, I think this is the lacrima that gathers magic power" Sin replied, "The magic convergent cannon is a weapon that emits compressed magic energy instead of bullets."

"Okay, I get it" Cana said as she jumped down into the power core room, "Then it means that all we have to do is destroy this damn thing" She pointed at lacrima.

"I won't… let you do that…" Someone said, it was a voice of young man, and he spoke slowly, lazily, confident in his powers.

"A guard?!" Cana exclaimed. She actually hoped that Phantom left the core unprotected in their arrogance. "Ah, no matter, I can't let anyone to stand on my way!" She stated, preparing her cards.

A young man with two-toned hair, dressed into a long, orange reddish gi-like cloth, appeared from shadows. It was Totomaru of Conflagration [Romaji – Taika no Totomaru] "It's you're the one… getting in our way…" He said with the same lazy manner. 660 seconds remaining…

* * *

(Inside the magic trap, with Natsu and Erza)

To be honest, in normal conditions, Erza wouldn't mind a brief tour of the legendary _Tower of Din, _she heard a lot about this place from Natsu. But now, in their current situation, the last thing she need is wandering inside Natsu's memories, especially when it mixed with her own…

Yet, while Cana and Totomaru were preparing to fight each other, she and Natsu continues to wander inside their memories, literally, just as Gray and Elfman. "What is this place?" Natsu asked as he opened the door into some room, which obviously belongs to Erza's memory.

"Overseer's office" Erza replied as she looked inside the room with disgust on her face, "One of the first rooms that we've captured when rebellion has began. Look at this chairs… these scums spared no expense to gratify their fancies… No, this room looks proper, let's see the next one." They were forced to run around, from one room to another, checking everything. Rush with it was not an option – they can miss the keystone.

They already checked seven rooms, and they all were from Tower of Heaven. But now they stood before large double door, this one obviously was from Natsu's memories. "Damn… I think I remember what's inside…" Natsu whispered as he cautiously opened the door.

"Why are you whispering?" Erza asked, also by whisper.

"To not awake something unwanted. Sorry, practice…" Natsu answered, "You're about to see why I had to be quiet here…" They entered the huge chamber, illuminated with large amount of torches, which were burning by creepy blue flames. In the middle of the room was large stone ring, similar to Stonehenge. In the middle of the ring large octahedron stone was floating, shining by blue light. About two dozens of large fleshless ghosts were swirling around the stone. The walls were decorated by ornaments, shaped like giant faces. Suddenly one of the faces opened its eyes, which flashed by blue light, yawned, and returned to its sleep. "See?" Natsu asked.

Erza was so stunned by surroundings that she even forgot about situation in the real world, "Natsu, what the hell is this?!"

"This place called the Chamber of Despair" Natsu answered, pointing at a runic inscription on the wall, "I spent here whole day but, to my shame, was unable to understand its purpose…"

"Scaring people to the death?!" Erza suggested as several ghosts merged with each other, making a larger ghost, and flew out of the room through the wall. She was very-hard-to-scare girl, but this place was sending shivers along her spine…

"Hmm… Everything looks proper…" Natsu mumbled as he examined the room, ignoring Erza's shock "Wait, what's this?" Natsu asked as he pointed at little cave in the corner of the room, which clearly shouldn't be here.

"Huh?" Erza came back to her senses and managed to divert her eyes from faces on the wall "This is… the escape tunnel… that we tried to use when…"

"When that worm Shô didn't found a courage to admit his guilt and you lost your eye because of that?" Natsu finished her phrase; it seems some of Erza's memories were mixed into this room.

"Yeah…" Erza confirmed, "Damn, it's even weirder to see it with such an environment…"

"Okay, let's go to the next room then, we have to hurry" Natsu said.

"Oh, right! Damn place, I even forgot about reality…" Erza agreed, forcing herself to not to look at creepy floating stone with ghosts around it.

* * *

(Back to the real world, with Cana and Sin)

"**Burū ****Faiyā****!" **[Blue Fire] Totomaru launched a stream of blue flame into Cana. Unlike normal flame it was very cold and could turn a target into one large frostbite.

"_Wind, Reverse Empress, Sun:_ **Haretsu!** [Rupture] Cana combined three cards and threw them into Totomaru, making a zone of extremely low pressure, which started to pull surroundings inside. It sucked Totomaru's fire, effectively neutralizing his spell. "_Heaven_, _Reverse Death_, _Mountain_: **Samoendo Raitoningu!** [Summoned Lightning] Cana combined three cards to summon green lightning bolts to strike the target.

"**Faia**** Uōru!"** [Fire Wall] Totomaru made a wall of green flame before himself that dissolved Cana's magic. "Not bad, but my green flame has a capability to deflect enemy's magic" Fire mage explained.

"_Joker:_ **Iryūjon!** [Illusion]" Cana threw a single card at Totomaru.

"I said my green flame can dissolve magic… did I not?" Phantom mage sighed but Cana's card didn't reach the flame and made a sparkling flash, as suddenly an image of Mirajane, dressed into a topless swimsuit, appeared in front of enemy mage.

Totomaru made a step back from unexpectedness, as he didn't noticed that Sin spat a ball of blue energy on the floor behind him and froze it. Totomaru slipped and fell on the floor, banged his head and ass, pretty hard.

…

Back at the FT's guildhall Mira suddenly hiccoughed _'Huh? Do someone mentioned me?'_

…

"Nice idea Cana," Sin commented.

"Thanks," She replied, "But please, don't tell anyone about this card…"

"What a vile trick!" Totomaru exclaimed, standing up and rubbing his head and ass.

"It's not you to talk about vileness, Phantom!" Cana yelled.

"We have to capture Lucy!" Fire mage shouted back, "I'm just doing my job!"

"Just as I'm. And my job is to save my friends! Let's continue, shall we?" Cana smiled a little. 420 seconds remaining…

* * *

(Inside the magic trap, with Natsu and Erza)

"I'm really hope that Gray and Elfman already got out of this trap…" Natsu said as they had no success in finding the keystone. Erza just finished examining the large torture chamber from her memories, which was even creepier than real one since it was lightened by creepy torches from _Tower of Din_. "Oh, right… Brace yourself sweetie, this room isn't the top place for dinner…" Natsu said as they came to another double door from _Tower of Din_.

"Go ahead, just hurry…" Erza sighed, she was ready for anything… bit not for this. Erza jerked away as skeletal six-legged horse ran past her before spreading its ripped dragonfly-like wings and soaring into the air. Few seconds later, horse smashed into the wall and crumbled to pieces. However, before Erza could be shocked the horse has restored itself and run into different direction as if nothing happened.

"This is the Hall of Bones" Natsu said, pointing at large whirlwind of bones in the middle of the room. Several bone piles were around the room, bones were of different sizes, shapes and even colors. Whirlwind was constantly producing horrible skeletal creatures, which were making two or three steps and crumbled as their bones were sucked back into the whirlwind. Right now, Ezra was eyeing the monster who had seven thoraxes, thirteen legs and more than two dozens of arm-like limbs… oh, and five skulls of different shapes. Creature made a few steps and crumbled, of course, since such an abomination simply cannot exist.

"I feel myself a bit sick…" Erza admitted. She has a very strong stomach, but such abominations can make sick anyone, also her sensitive nose was greatly offended by the smell of rotting bones.

"As far as I understood this place is some kind of prototype foundry. This whirlwind constantly creates different creatures. Those who can exist is free to roam here, those who not goes for reprocessing. Spent two days here but didn't learn something useful to me… okay, room seems just as I saw it back then," Natsu concluded.

"Natsu… may I talk to you… outside please…" Erza said through her palm as she was struggling to not to barf.

"No," Natsu smirked, he understood that she wants to express her opinion about his 'adventure' in the Tower of Din, "We're in the middle of situation here, you can scold me later"

"Rrrrr…." Erza growled in frustration but she couldn't object – he was right, they still have to find a way to get out of here, she followed Natsu who ran to the next door.

* * *

(Inside the magic trap, with Gray and Elfman)

"Damn… such a vile magic…" Elfman shivered a little. "Everything looks so real…" Big guy said as he and Gray were running across ruined town, mixed with rocky mountains with cave system.

"Yeah… and it's so confusing…" Gray agreed.

Actually, there was nothing remarkable, just a destroyed town and mountain landscape. "How much time do we have?" Elfman asked.

"Little," Gray replied, "Five minutes, maybe less…"

Elfman looked around desperately, "Please, help us!" He shouted as he looked at the white cross on the roof of damaged town hall, which was half-buried into the rock because of memories mix.

"Huh?" Gray looked at the cross as he heard Elfman's pray, "Wait a minute… It should be on the roof of the church!" Gray pointed at town hall's roof. "This one is fake!"

"Um? You mean it's that... err… keystone?!" Elfman asked.

"Yes! **Aisu Meiku: Ransu!** [Ice Make: Lance]" Gray made several lances made of ice and destroyed fake cross with it. Immediately fake world around him and Elfman crumbled, but they appeared not in the gulf, where they were when trap worked, but at Magnolia's marketplace.

"What?! Where are we?!" Elfman asked in shock.

"Look!" Gray pointed toward the gulf, Phantom's guild building could be seen even from here, "C'mon! We have to return to the guild!"

…

Fake world around Natsu and Erza started to crumble as well. "Okay, I see. Our space pockets were separate but keystone was only one for both spaces, and it was on Gray and Elfman's side," Natsu guessed.

"Nice work guys!" Erza exclaimed, with bright green flash she and Natsu appeared… at Magnolia train station! "What?! Where are we?!" Erza shouted in confusion as crowd of passengers was staring at them in shock.

"We're at the train station!" Natsu recognized the surroundings, "We're at the opposite side of the town!"

Erza looked at her watch "Four minutes! C'mon, we have to go back! **Seikō Kudō!** [Starlight Drive]"

"**Sentō Chūkaku!** [Combat Core]" Both mages used their self-enhancement spells and dashed toward their guild.

* * *

(Near the Guild Building)

Fortunately, Magnolia's marketplace were not too far from Fairy Tail's guild building, Elfman and Gray arrived to the guild. They literally broke into the building and run through it, nearly knocking over Mirajane, who was hiding here, pretending to be Lucy.

"Gray, Elfman! You all right?!" She asked.

"Sorry Lucy, no time!" Grey replied as they run out through back door.

"Gray! Elfman! Are you two all right?!" Alzack yelled as he saw two mages finally returned. He and other Fairy Tail mages were fighting against Jose's soldiers in the last effort.

"Yes!" Elfman answered, "Natsu and Erza aren't returned yet?"

"No" Bisca replied.

"Damn! Alzack, how much time left until the shot?!" Grey asked.

"Two minutes! Cana went there to try to stop the cannon!" Cowboy-mage replied.

"Fuck! Without them we can't block another shot. Elfman, come on!" And without needless words two mages rushed toward phantom guild building to try to prevent Jupiter from firing.

* * *

(Near the Jupiter's power core, with Cana and Sin)

"_Heaven, Wind: _**Uindo Ejji!** [Wind Edge]" Cana threw two cards into Totomaru, unleashing a massive wave of wind at him. However, he countered her spell:

"**Reddo Faiyā!"** [Red Fire] Totomaru made a stream of red flame that burned Cana's magic. "My red fire is a high temperature flame that can be used to re-route air currents," He explained. He was quiet calm, already thinking that he won this fight. He was struck by several of Cana's spells but damage was not too severe. Cana, on the other hand, was quite worn out. Initially she was on pair with Phantom's S-class mage, but eventually he managed to get the upper hand. Cana stood panting, she got multiple burns and several cuts since Totomaru also used his sword.

"**Orenji Faiyā!" **[Orange Fire] Totomaru shot a stream of normal flame into Cana, which produced an explosion on contact. Card mage avoided the direct hit, but shockwave threw her on the ground. "Give up!" Totomaru demanded, "May be Master will have mercy at you…"

"I'm already fed up with Phantom's mercy!" Cana growled.

"Cana, it's 60 seconds left!" Sin shouted, as lacrima, which he used to hid from Totomaru, started to shine.

'_Okay, now or never!'_ Cana thought as she pulled out the entire deck of the Major Arcana and threw it into enemy Mage. However, Totomaru noticed that there is no enchantment o these cards, so he simply deflected them by sword.

"You already ran out of magic? These cards were not even magical…" He smiled – victory in his hands. "Okay, before I'll end this fight by my rainbow flame I'll let you see the end of your guild by Jupiter's shot!" Fire mage said as he raised his arms. 30 seconds left.

"We won't make it in time!" Gray shouted as he saw that Jupiter's barrel began to shine. He and Elfman were swimming toward enemy guild as fast as they could, but it's obvious they're already too late…

'_Damn! We'll be too late!'_ Natsu and Erza thought at the same time, they were rushing through town at high speed, knocking over the passers-by.

"No! Jupiter is firing!" Macao yelled.

"Damn, it's my fault, I had to go with her!" Wakaba shouted.

All Fairy Tail members stood in fear, watching at cannon's shining barrel.

"That's it for you, Fairy Tail!" Totomaru announced, but Cana suddenly smiled.

"You right, that's it!" She pulled out her last card and cast a spell _"Reverse Joker:_ **Chēn Riakushon!** [Chain Reaction]" Cana threw it into the lacrima as Totomaru finally noticed that all cards that he deflected were plunged into the charged power core.

"No!" He yelled but too late – Cana's card exploded, provoking a continuous explosions around the power core, compromising its integrity. Powerful blast destroyed all the machinery inside the core chamber as explosion ruined part of guild's exterior and cannon's barrel fell into the sea.

"Nicely done Cana!" Sin exclaimed as smoke partially dissipated. _'She knew that she can't outmatch this guy in battle, so she used his arrogance to make him __inattentive and destroyed the cannon… well done'_

"Woo-hoo!" "Look!" "Cannon is crumbling!"

"Unbelievable, she did it!" Wakaba exclaimed.

"Barrel of best booze is on me, Cana!" Macao shouted.

"All right!" "Jupiter has been destroyed!" "Never underestimate Fairy Tail sorceress!"

"Now we have nothing left to fear!" Bisca shouted, "Annihilate the enemy!" And with double determination Fairy Tail mages rushed into battle against Jose's soldiers; it was possible to notice that even those who were wounded yesterday left the cellar and now were fighting against shades alongside the others, in process of forces.

"Ugh… Master will be mad at me…" Totomaru mumbled as he observed the remains of Jupiter. "Well, at least I'll defeat my enemy!" He turned to Cana, who has no strength left. "Sorry, nothing personal. May be master spare you after we'll destroy your guild..." Cana could only watch as Totomaru raised his arms, gathering flames of different colors. **"****Reinbō Faiyā!****"** [Rainbow Fire] But when he was ready to release his spell Sin appeared behind Totomaru while he was busy with his casting, and lift him in the air. "Hey! Put me down!" Fire mage demanded as his limbs suddenly were covered with ice. "What?! Hey!? What is this?!" He yelled as his whole body now was encased into the ice block. Sin released Totomaru as big beast claw caught him.

"If you're man…" Elfman shouted, throwing Totomaru up, through the ceiling "…fly to the heavens and become a star!"

Fire mage, still encased in ice, made a hole in the ceiling and flew away, yelling, "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Thanks guys…" Cana said, still breathing heavily, "Good timing."

"Don't mention it," Gray replied with smile, "So, that is what's left from Jupiter? Nice work there…"

"You're man, Cana!" Elfman approved.

"No, she's not" Sin noted, "Okay guys, now you have to find a guild's shield power source so we can rid of this thing."

"Can you take it from here, guys? I need a bit of time to catch my breath…" Cana said, wiping sweat from her forehead, "I'm going back to the guild and try to help the others fight with the shades" Cana said as Sin grabbed her by his boney claws and lifted her in the air, "But where's Natsu and Erza?"

"No idea," Gray replied as he and Elfman were looking around, trying to find an exit from this room, "Even if they already break out from the trap, they might appear far from here. I and Elfman had to run here from town's market…"

"What a vile trap…" Cana mumbled as Sin carried her toward the shore through the hole made by Totomaru.

In the guild control room, master Jose stood near the window. "So, these disgusting bratty children got their spunk back…" He clenched his fists, Jose didn't anticipated that Jupiter will be destroyed, not after Natsu's team was successfully entrapped into Nelliel's trap. "Start up the Giant!"

* * *

(Near the Guild Building)

Natsu and Erza felt a great relief as they saw the destruction of Jupiter, yet they continued to run without lowering the speed. Just like Gray and Elfman, they broke into the building and run through it, but when they were running past 'Lucy' they both stopped and stared at blonde. Erza sniffed the air and Natsu just looked at her by his god sight as girl made a few steps back, giving them a nervous smile.

"This won't work" Natsu noted.

"You really need help…" Erza shook her head and both slayers run out to the back yard.

"Nice talking to you!" Mira said in frustration.

Fairy Tail continued their fight with Jose's soldiers. "Natsu! Erza! What happened?!" Alzack asked as Sin placed Cana on the shore.

"I'll explain later" Natsu replied, "What's the situation?"

"Well, Cana dealt with Jupiter, but we still has Jose and his soldiers" Sin said.

"You dealt with Jupiter? Nicely done Cana" Natsu approved.

"Hey, I'm a Fairy Tail wizard too, I know how to destroy stuff!" Cana smiled, "Gray and Elfman are inside, they…" Cana became silent as Phantom's guild moved again. Guild rose above water.

"Huh? It moved again?!"

"What they're planning to do this time?!"

"They are retreating?"

Like spellbound Fairy Tail mages were watching as enemy guild slowly took vertical position and its legs and body started to transform. In one minute enemy guild turned into a giant.

"Behold, Fairy Tail!" Jose announced through broadcasting system "This is _Super Mage Giant Phantom Mk. II_! Prepare to meet your end!"

"Wh… what on earth is that?!" Cana asked, looking at giant as entranced and sweating all over.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Mira looked at giant through guild hall window.

"A giant?!" Loke mumbled in shock.

"It's just madness!" Natsu exclaimed in disbelief.

"One crazy thing after another!" Erza could barely believe her eyes.

…

Giant started to move toward the coast. Inside, Gray and Elfman split up to quicker find guild's power source, but right now, they were bouncing like balls at the tennis court.

"Ough! What the hell is going on?!" Gray yelled after he crushed into a wall.

"Let me go, damn thing!" Elfman demanded, he crashed into a knight's armor and now was trying to remove knight's helmet from his head.

…

On the shore, Fairy Tail members were trembling from fear.

"It's moving!" Max yelled.

"It going to trample our guild!" Warren panicked.

"Concentrate on the enemy in front of you!" Erza ordered, Jose's shades were still attacking Fairy Tail. "We'll stop it, c'mon Natsu!" Erza shouted, but before they moved giant stopped, after making just a few steps.

"Now what?!" Natsu wondered as giant raised his 'arm'. To his surprise, the giant began to draw something in the air.

"What's that… writing…?" Max asked uncertainly.

"This… this is…" Alzack stuttered in fear.

"It's a magical seal!" Cana yelled in shock "This building thing is a mage!"

"WHHAAATT?!" All Fairy Tail yelled in unison.

"This… this seal… is **Abisu Bureiku!** [Abyss Break]" Mira was trembling in horror, "Isn't that one of the forbidden spells?!" (A/N: Actual spell name is **Rengoku Saih****a**, lit. from KanJI – Purgatory Rending Crush).

Suddenly a shockwave knocked over several guild members and Jose's shades – with their 'Core' and 'Drive' spells still active Natsu and Erza rushed toward the enemy guild.

"Such a huge seal… this is bad!" Loke exclaimed, "The dark blast will destroy everything all the way to Kardia Cathedral!"

"What are we going to do?!" Wakaba asked in fear.

"We have to keep these shades away from our guild! Natsu and the others will stop it!" Bisca replied, shooting at shadow soldiers. Right now Erza and Natsu were climbing at giant by its 'leg'.

"Pst! Cana! Sin!" Mira called for them from inside the guild.

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Sin wondered why she's not fighting with the others.

"I'm Mira. I sent Lucy to the hideout" Blonde replied.

"Mira?!" Cana exclaimed "In your condition?!"

"I'm fine!" She said indignantly, though it was a lie, she could barely stood on her feet. "Sin, where's Elfman?" She asked.

"Still inside the giant" Sin replied, "They split up and now trying to find a guild's power source"

"Split up!?" Mira yelled in shock "Why?!"

Both Cana and Sin were surprised by Mira's reaction. "Because they can find the power source more quick this way…" Sin explained the obvious thing, by his opinion. "According to drawing speed we have less than ten minutes before this seal will be complete, they have to hurry."

"No! Elfman can't be on his own!" Mira shouted, clenching into wooden windowsill, "Elfman can't fight alone! You should know that too, Sin! Why didn't you bring him back?!"

"Easy Mira" Cana tried to calm her down, "Elfman can take care of himself. He took part in the fighting before."

"No… It's one thing to go up against soldiers…" Mira said as she stepped away from the window, "But if he finds himself up against the leaders… the way he is now…" Mira looked in the floor as sad thoughts stormed her head.

"Mira, listen. I know you and Elfman both were terribly hurt." Cana said seriously, "But Elfman is trying hard to keep moving onward…"

"Some time after the funeral… he even came to Natsu and borrowed some books about Take Over magic, Natsu said that it's not what he need, yet gave the books…" Sin added, "You know how much he hate studying, but he really want to become better…"

Mira sighed deeply, _'They're right, aren't they? Natsu became an S-class mage after that… Elfman worked hard to become better as well… But I… I just buried my head in the sand and tried to hide from this world behind the bar counter…'_ Mira clenched her fists, _'Natsu… Elfman… I, too, should be…'_ With this suddenly found resoluteness, Mirajane, still under disguise, threw open the window and climbed out to the back yard.

"Huh?! Mira!" Cana exclaimed.

"Hey! What are you…" Sin tried to ask but Mira ignored them and run toward the shore.

"Lucy?!" Laki asked in shock.

"Stay back! It's dangerous here, they're after you!" Wakaba warned blonde.

"Get back, Lucy-chan!" Warren exclaimed.

But Mira ignored all of them and stood up in front of giant, with her arms outspread. "I'm the one you're after, right?!" Mira yelled as loud as she can, shocking everyone, "Stop attacking the guild right now!"

"Lucy?!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Get back!"

'_That should buy us a little time!'_ Mira thought.

In Phantom's control room one of the guild members looked at Mira through binocular "Master! That's..."

But Jose just frowned and took the microphone. "Disappear!" He demanded through broadcasting system, "You little wretched imposer!"

'_No way!'_ Mira was shocked and deeply disheartened.

"I knew right from the very start that Lucy wasn't here." Jose announced – it was hard to say, was it a truth or he actually just noticed the deception, "There's no way that the person who was targeted would be sent to the frontline"

"Damn!" Cana cursed as she saw that Mira's plan failed and giant continued to draw the magic seal.

'_I'm… completely useless…' _Mirajane thought as tears swollen in her big brown eyes, which again became deep-blue as her transformation wore off.

* * *

(Inside the Phantom Lord's giant)

Natsu, Erza, Gray and Elfman continued to look for giant's power source.

"Crap! This is a real maze!" Natsu thought in frustration as had no success in finding anything, aside from empty halls and corridors.

…

Erza sniffed the air, _'Damn, how can I __smell out the power source if I have no idea how it actually smells?!'_

…

"Okay, I'll better look from outside!" Gray decided, as he too had no success in finding anything.

* * *

(With Elfman)

"Uoooogh! The man, Elfman, will protect Fairy Tail with his life!" Elfman shouted as he was running through the weird room with flowerbeds, "But, seriously, what a crazy room!"

"Salute!" Someone's voice called from behind Elfman. He turned around to see a slim, green-haired man, dressed into dark-drown suit with monocle on his right eye. He literally stick from the floor with his feet melded to the ground and arms outspread in welcoming gesture.

* * *

(Fairy Tail back yard)

"Don't worry Mira, Elfman can fight…" Cana tried to cheer up Mirajane "He's a wizard of Fairy Tail too." However, it don't eased Mirajane's worries.

"Don't you think we have to make a run for it?" One of the Fairy Tail mages asked, "That magic seal looks almost complete"

"You want to leave the guild behind?!" Cana asked angrily.

"Ah, no…" The man corrected himself. It's good that no one knew that Erza and Natsu were about to evacuate everyone.

"There're people fighting for us in there!" Drunkard pointed at giant, "We have to believe in them and protect the guild any way we can!"

Mira still stood in front of giant, consumed by her worries and sad thoughts _'Elfman… You're in no state to be fighting…'_ Too late she noticed a giant's shadow around herself. "Ahhh!" She cried as giant grabbed her by its arm, clenching her body between fingers.

"Mira!" "Mira-chan!" "Hold on!"

"Attempting to deceive us… I don't think I like you, girl" Jose noted through broadcasting system, "I think I'll just smash you to pieces, slowly…"

"Augh…" Mira just moaned, she was still weak after her crucifixion by Nelliel, and now this…

"Mira!" Cana cried in fear for Mira's life, "Natsu! Erza! Gray! Elfman! Hurry up and stop the giant!"

* * *

(With Elfman)

"I'm Sol of the Earth, you can call me Monsieur Sol, I'm the member of the Element Four" Man in brown suit introduced himself, playing an ape, as usual.

"What a great timing!" Elfman said, throwing off his sleeveless coat, "You can tell me how to stop this giant!" He raised his right arm and cast a spell **"****Bīsuto Āmu****: Burakku Buru!"** [Beast Arm: Black Bull]

"Oh? Are you sure that just one arm will be enough?" Sol asked, leaning on the right, he seemed to be very flexible, "It seems the rumors were accurate, after all…"

"Huh?" Elfman wondered.

"I know all about you… No, more than that, my head contains details pertaining to all the mages of fairy tail" He said, giving to Elfman quite debility grin.

Elfman looked at him angrily before attacking him, yelling "Don't you ever stop talking?!" Elfman swung his beast arm but Sol dodged the attack and Elfman smashed his arm into the floor.

"I do believe you have a younger sister, yes?" Sol asked while he was upside-down, in mid-air before casting a spell "**Sāberu Dansu!** [Sable (sand) Dance]" Elfman was surrounded by the whirlwind of sand, which greatly reduced his field of vision.

"Where did he…?" Elfman couldn't see the enemy through the sand.

"**Rosshu Konseruto!"** [Roche Concerto] Sol appeared in two dozens of meters from Elfman and launched a barrage of massive rock at elfman.

"Aug! Ugh!" Elfman got several hits and fell on his knees, breathing heavily.

"A while back, you underwent a full body take-over, but it went wrong… You run wild…" Sol mocked Elfman with disgusting smile, "Your precious little sister gave her life to stop your rampage… Isn't that right?" Elfman eyed his enemy with growing anger as he continued to speak, "And the trauma that resulted from that incident has prevented you from being able to perform a full-body take-over ever since…"

"**Bīsuto Āmu****: Sutīru Buru!** [Beast Arm: Steel Bull]" Elfman roared in fury and attempted to attack Sol once more, but slimy guy literally merged with the floor, avoiding the attack and appearing behind Elfman. White-haired guy tried to hit Sol again but he dodged and then wrapped his body around Elfman's arm, using peculiar structure of his body.

"Salute!" Sol said as his face appeared in ten centimeters away from Elfman's.

"Ugh… What a disgusting guy…" Elfman growled, looking into Sol's face.

"Non, non, non! This is nonsense with three 'non's!" Sol spoke out some senseless phrase.

"Why don't you get off me, moncher Sol?!" Elfman demanded angrily, trying to remove the enemy from his arm.

"It's 'monsieur', actually!" Sol replied before quickly unwrapping himself from Elfman's arm and slamming his boot into Elfman's face.

"Ugh! You bastard!" Elfman shouted and again tried to hit Sol by his beast arm. Once again – Sol dodged. "If you're man, than fight me fair and square, fist to fist!"

"If I'm a man, you say?" Sol asked, appearing behind Elfman and smashing his feet into Elfman's back. "Non, non, non. I cannot let that pass. You have no rights to question manliness of the others, you – trash who killed your own sister. **Sāberu ****bāsuto!** [Sable (sand) Burst]" Sol sent a wave of sand toward Elfman, knocking him over.

'_That guy… he's a way stronger than he looks…'_ Elfman thought, gathering his magic, _'I have no choice but to do it!'_ Elfman prepared to use full-body take over, but suddenly Lisanna's image appeared before his sigh and his magic power vanished. "Ugh…" Elfman fell on his knees, clenching to his arm.

"Hmmmmm… You should avoid attempting that which you cannot achieve!" Sol shouted, as he rushed toward weakened enemy, "It would appear your power has fallen drastically thanks to that attempt! Voila!" Sol smashed his leg into Elfman's abdomen.

"AAGHH!" Elfman was thrown back as several drops of blood flew out from his mouth.

"Hmmm… as a gentleman, which every real man should be, it is only right that I should end this with my most powerful spell, **Purattoru Sonaato!** [Platre (plaster) Sonata]" A giant fist made of plaster appeared from magic seal and punched Elfman, smashing him into the guild's outer wall, making a large hole in it and eliciting big dust cloud. "This is the power of Element Four" Sol commented.

Lying on the edge of the breach, almost defeated, Elfman managed to hear someone's moans. He barely opened his eyes, only to see his elder sister, clenched between giant's fingers, "Wh… what is this?"

"El… Elfman…" Mira moaned, looking at her brother. She trembled from fear and pain.

"NEE–CHAN!" Elfman bellowed as he recognized his sister.

"Oh… Your older sister, in other words. That woman out there, would she happen to be the famous Mirajane-sama, once feared as 'She-Devil'? Another pathetic sight…" Sol noted as he came closer to breach. "I'm afraid she's currently being punished for attempting to deceive us. She should be smashed apart any moment now…"

"R…run… Elfman…" Mira moaned weekly.

"Nee-chan! The hell do you call this…! Let her go right now!" Elfman yelled but Sol just stepped on the back of his head.

"Stop it! It doesn't matter what happens to me! But just leave Elfman alone…" Mira cried through pain and fear.

"I'm wondering…" Sol said, "Shall I spare you? Shall I let you to go through it all again… Such a pity… Losing first your younger sister and that your elder sister right before your very eyes…" Earth mage snickered, "And that is all because you're an impotent wizard who does nothing but spout bluffs about manliness!"

"Elfman! Run! Please!" Mira cried desperately as tears were flowing down by her cheeks.

"Wh… Why…?!" Elfman growled with his head still pressed by Sol's boot. "I swore that I'd never see your tears ever again, Nee-chan… So why are you crying?!" Elfman quickly raised on his feet, pushing Sol away as his magic powers suddenly rose up, "WHO WAS IT THAT MADE YOU CRY?!" Elfman started to perform full-body take over.

"No, Elfman! You mustn't! You can still only use a single arm!" Mira cried desperately.

"She's right…" sol said a bit nervously.

But Elfman ignored both of them, building up his magic. "Lisanna died… all because I was too weak…"

"That's not true!" Mira cried.

Again, Elfman ignored her words, "I don't want to feel that way ever again!" Elfman roared, "Now I finally got your saying Natsu! I'm too want to become a strong man, someone who can protect my guild and my sister! **Bīsuto Sōru!"** With shining light large purple magic seal appeared as Elfman released his spell.

"No… this is…" Sol mumbled in fear.

"**Furu Bodi ****Teiku Ōbā:****Bīsuto Sōru!"** [Full Body Take Over: Beast Soul] Mira exclaimed in awe. Elfman turned into huge beast with horns and large claws, and proceeded to attack the enemy.

"No way! **Purattoru Sonaato!"** Sol created another giant fist made of plaster and sent it into Elfman, but the Beast King smashed it into pieces and rushed on enemy mage. Sol had no chance to dodge this time and was smashed into the floor as Elfman continued his assault with flurry of blows.

"Augh!" "Ugh!" "Ouu!" "Gah!" Mirajane could her screams of Sol's beating. When Elfman had done with him, he was unconscious, unrecognizable because of severely beating, and utterly defeated.

"Elfman…" Mirajane gingerly called for her brother. One second later Elfman, still in beast form, appeared from the hole in guild's wall and started to make his way toward Mirajane, along giant's arm. "Hey… Elfman…" Mira shivered in fear, "Can you hear me?!" But Elfman just run toward her, on all four, without saying a word. "You… you haven't lost all the reason again, have you...?" Mira asked as the Beast loomed over her, "Elfman…" The Beast extended his arm as if to reach her and Mira closed her eyes shut, afraid that Elfman is going to hit her. But he just unclenched giant's fingers and hugged his elder sister, as gentle as he could in this form. "Huh?!" Mira wondered.

"I'm sorry, nee-chan…" Elfman said by mournful voice. "You probably never wanted to see this face again… It was all because I couldn't control this form properly that… Lisanna…"

"You're lucid…" Mira was still shivering from shock.

"…But there's nothing else I could do. I had to become stronger, or I couldn't protect you, or Fairy Tail" Elfman finished.

Mira finally smiled "It was never your fault that Lisanna died. Back then, too, you were…" but Elfman interrupted her.

"No, nee-chan, it was. And now I finally accepted it." He said, "Three years ago Natsu gave me an answer, but only now I understood what he meant."

"Huh? What?" Mira was amazed.

"We never told you but… right after Lisanna's funeral I ran away from hospital, it was impossible to be there… I wanted to see you but you wasn't at graveyard, neither at home or in the guild. Even for me it wasn't hard to figure out where else you can be…" Elfman didn't noticed it but Mira's cheeks blushed, just a bit. "I came to Natsu's hotel room. He didn't let me in, said that he won't let me wake you up by my loud crying. But before he sent me away he said to me this thing: _'Do not deny obvious – it was your fault. Remember well this feeling – this pain, suffering and shame. Then ask yourself – do you want to feel it again?'_ I ran away then, cursing him and his heartlessness… But he was right, and now I understood… I can live with this guilt. Now I can truly move on…"

"Oh Natsu…" Mira sighed, "He just can't keep his mouth shut, is he…" She smiled, he was her best friend for a reason, "So this is why he said that running from hospital is our family trait…" Elfman Take Over wore off as Mira pressed herself to his chest. "Thank you, Elfman, both of you… Oh?!" Suddenly Mira noticed something.

"Nee-san? What's wrong?" Elfman wondered.

"The giant. Speed at which he's drawing the seal… It's become slower. I wonder why…" Mira replied, observing the giant Mk II. _'The four-elemental forbidden spell… Abyss Break… Four elements… fire… water… air… earth… OH!'_ Mira turned to her brother so abruptly that he almost fell from the giant's arm. "Elfman, How many of the Element Four are left?!"

"Huh?!" Elfman was a bit shocked by unexpected question, "Uhhh… there are two left… I think…"

"As I thought. When you beat this guy up, the giant's movements became slower." Mira explained. "In other words, the giant's power source is the four elements! If we defeat all of the Element Four, we can prevent the spell!"

"Really!?" Elfman was amazed.

"Quickly, Elfman! They must be somewhere inside this giant!" Mira ran toward hole in the wall.

"Wait, don't you need to go back to the guild!?" Elfman asked in shock – he couldn't understand how she's able to move, not to mention the running.

"And how should I do it?!" Mira asked indignantly, "Shall I jump down? Besides, I'm the one who figured out how to stop the spell, so I have the right to be here!"

"Ok…okay…" Elfman knew that this is useless to try to argue with her now…

…

"Whew… It look's like Mira is all right…" Cana let out a sight of relief, looking at Mira and Elfman; then she fell on her knees from exhaustion.

"Cana!" Makao shouted, worried about her.

"D-Don't worry about all that!" She shouted back, forcing herself to stand up, "The important thing is the enemies right before us! We must protect Fairy Tail!" There still was a plenty of Jose's shades.

'_She's pushing herself too hard…'_ Macao thought, looking at Cana, _'But honestly, I wonder why is it… All the women in our guild are so damn strong…'_ Macao smiled proudly.

…

"Damn! How big is this guild?!" Erza asked herself – she still didn't found anything that might be a power source.

…

"This thing wasn't looking that big from outside!" Natsu had no success, either.

* * *

(With Gray)

"Hmm? Rain?" Gray wondered as he climbed at Phantom guild's roof through large glass hatch (it was window while guild stood horizontally), "Was it raining before?" Gray was sure that sky was clear just a few minutes ago.

"Drip drip drop…" Gray saw a young girl, approximately of the same age as he himself, with long blue hair, dressed into a navy blue coat, a fur shawl as well as Cossack-styled hat. She held a large pink umbrella. "Yes, Juvia, the woman of the rain, of the Element Four. Drip drip drop…"

"Element Four…" Gray mumbled, examining the girl.

"To think that you could defeat two of the elements… However, Juvia and Aria are not to be taken lightly," The girl noted calmly.

"Sorry, but it doesn't matter if you're woman or even a child…" Gray replied, looking straight into her eyes, "I don't go easy on anybody who hurts my nakama." He didn't noticed though that Juvia's cheeks blushed a bit.

"Y-yes… I have lost… this battle… Farewell!" Girl turned around and headed away, freaking Gray out.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Gray yelled with his jaw dropped on floor, "What the hell's with that?!"

'_Ahh… Jivia…are you somehow afflicted?!'_ Juvia asked herself, holding to her heart, _'Why is my heart beating like this?!'_

"Hey you, wait up!" Gray shouted, chasing after Juvia, "You can damn well stop this giant!"

'_I must make him mine!'_ Juvia clenched her fist, _'Juvia, there's no turning back, I want him!'_ She turned around abruptly and cast a spell at Gray **"Uōtā Rokku!** [Water Lock]"

"Glug!" Gray gurgled as he was entrapped inside the bubble of water. While he floundered in the water his shirt swung open and bondages around his abdomen become visible. Actually, his wound, made by Leon, already healed during last six weeks, he decided to wore these bondages one more week just in case. But Juvia wasn't aware of it – she panicked when saw bondages.

"Oh no! He's injured! Whatever shall I do?! I must release him quick or…" She cried, twitching as if she was electrocuted.

While Juvia was panicking, Gray build up his magic "Aaaaaarrgh!" Gray froze the water bubble and shattered it to pieces.

'_He… he escaped Juvia's water lock using his own power…' _She looked at Gray with widened eyes, _'Juvia was so sure that her Water Lock could never be broken… this is the power of ice wizard? Exquisite! Water and ice… It's like we're bound by fate!'_

"Huh… you got me good there, didn't you…" Gray growled, he thought that it was planned surprise attack. He started to remove his shirt, preparing for combat.

As she saw this, Juvia's heart rhythm rose to about 150. _'Wh… why?! Why he is removing his clothing?! M-my heart… my heart is not prepared for this…'_

While Juvia tried to decide what to do Gray used his spell "**Aisu Meiku: Ransu!"** [Ice Make: Lance] Gray created multiple lances made of ice that he directed toward enemy. Ice lances impaled girl at several points, mutilating her body. But, to Gray's shock, she stood like nothing happened, just her face became sad.

"Juvia's body is made of rain itself. Yes… drip drip drop…" She explained, looking at Gray almost mournfully as her body restored its form. _'Just now, he's assaulted me… Yes, this man is an enemy…'_ She thought before looking at Gray "Torn apart by strife that is their tearful fate! But Juvia won't lose her heart! Farewell, sweet flower of my forbidden love! **Suiryū Sanha!** [Water Slicer, KanJi reads: Water Stream Rend Kill]" Juvia swiped her right arm, sending scythe-like blades of water at Gray.

"What the hell are you saying?!" Gray yelled, dodging the water blades. "Argh!" One water blade hit the target, almost knocking Gray over. He quickly recovered _'Okay… six weeks of training, let's see what they worth…'_ **"****Aisu Meiku: ****Senpu!"** [Ice Make: Battle Axe] Gray created an axe made of ice and swung it around, slicing Juvia's body in half, but again, she stood as if nothing happened. "Tch… She's a tough one…" Gray hissed.

"Try again and again but nothing will change…" Girl say imperturbably. "It is impossible for you to defeat Juvia. There is still time for you to be saved. Juvia request that you bring Lucy to me. If you do so, Juvia will speak with our master and convince him to withdraw."

"Quit saying screwed up things! Both sides came too far now to just stop fighting!" Gray answered. "Lucy's our nakama. I won't hand her over even if I die!"

Juvia dropped umbrella and grabbed her head in panic, _'Even if I die?! No! Lucy! Rival in love!'_ She started to cry, freaking out Gray again by her extremely weird behavior. "AAAAHHH!" She yelled in sudden fury as her water started to boil "Juvia cannot forgive this! Juvia will never forgive Lucy!"

"Ahh! Boiling water!?" Gray was forced to cover his face from steam "And why's she mad at Lucy?"

**Shierā!** [Sierra; no idea about the origin of this spell's name] Juvia transformed her entire body into stream of boiling water and rushed toward Gray.

"**Aisu Meiku…"** Gray tried to cast some spell but stream of boiling water struck him, interrupting the cast sequence. Gray got several burns as Juvia turned around for another sweep. "She's fast! My **Zōkei Mahō** [Molding Magic] can't keep up with her?!" Gray yelled, barely dodging from Juvia's another attack. '_I've gotta buy myself some time!'_ Ice mage thought as he rushed toward one of the roof's glass hatches. He jumped down through it, smashing the glass as water witch followed him.

Once he was on floor, he quickly raised his hands and made a shield: **"Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo!"** [Ice Make: Shield] He made a large flower-like shield above his head to protect himself from boiling water. But, to his shock, shield started to melt. _'Wha…?! No way! It withstood Jupiter's attack but I can't hold her!?'_

"Juvia's jealousy is boiling over!" Water witch yelled as gray was able to see watery lineament of her face through melting shield.

"What the hell?!" Gray was freaked out again, _'Where does the jealousy?!'_ Few moments later Gray's shield failed and he was struck by boiling stream _'So hot.. My skin's been burned!"_

Jubia made another sweep and now whole Gray's body was inside the stream of water. It dragged Gray along, smashing him into the ceiling. Water made a hole in ceiling and launched gray in the air.

"Why you…!" Gray tried to figure out a way to handle her, "I just need to get in one good shot and freeze her!" Gray overturned in mid-air and put his hands into boiling water "Freeze!" Gray channeled his magic into water and it started to freeze, together with Juvia, who was part of the stream.

'_Impossible! Juvia's boiling water was… frozen?!' _Water witch thought as her watery body was frozen and encased into the ice. _'And of all things…'_ Her cheeks blushed.

"Heh…" Gray smiled before he realized that when he froze her he accidentally grabbed her breast, "AAAAHH! No! I wasn't…!" Gray tried to justify himself in panic.

'_Juvia is mortified…' _She thought, deeply embarrassed, _'As things stand… trapped in this ice…'_

"Sorry!" Gray yelled as he released her from ice, quickly removing his hand from… her.

'_He released me from the ice?! But why?!' _Water witch thought, sitting on her knees and looking at gray with widened eyes, _'He's so kind!'_

"L-let's start over with this!" Gray suggested, still freaked out because he accidentally pawed her.

"That won't do…" Juvia replied sadly as she rose on her feet. "Juvia cannot find it within herself to hurt you…"

"Huh? You can't hurt me?" Gray wondered, "You mean you've realized that you've got no chance of winning?"

"Juvia is stronger than Lucy…" Water witch continued to talk, "Juvia could protect you…"

"What's your problem with Lucy" Gray asked, "She's your old school days rival or something?"

"No… well… I…" Juvia stuttered. She tried to find words to express her feelings too long and made Gray lost his interest in this conversation.

"Man… isn't this rain getting a little heavy?" Gray looked the dark-gray clouds.

"Juvia is irritated!" Girl grabbed her head.

"This rain is really sucks…" Gray mumbled but Juvia twitched as if she was slapped.

'_This man… He's the same as the others…'_ Her disappointment and rage about Gray started to boil over again. "You're just the same!" Juvia's fury boiled once more, even hotter than before.

"What now?!" Gray looked at her with annoyance, he started to get tired from her random behavior. "If you're coming – make it quick!"

'_Juvia has no more need for love!'_ Once again water witch turned into stream of water and rushed into Gray, encasing him into stream of boiling water.

"Just gotta freeze it again!" Gray tried to freeze water but his attempt failed this time, "What?! The temperature even higher than before?!"

As Juvia was remembering all the bad treatment she got because of her magic, which brings rain, her rage boiled more and more. _'Juvia is one of the element four! The mage of Phantom!'_ She threw Gray out from the water and turned around for another attack. **"****Shierā!"** [Sierra] She prepared to make a powerful blow by water stream.

"I'm not about to lose!" Gay yelled, gathering all his powers, "Not to a goddamn phantom!" He extended his arms, awaiting for water stream to approach. "AAAARRRGGHHH!" Gray met the water and used all his power to freeze it. And he succeeded – not just water but even rain drops turned into ice. Gray canceled Juvia's spell, knocking her out of the water stream and forcing her to regain human form.

'_He even froze the rain?! What incredible magic power!'_ Water witch thought, helplessly falling down.

"Aisu Meiku: **Aisu Gaizā!"** [Ice Make: Ice Geyser] Gray slammed his fists into the floor, creating a large magic seal, to make a tower of ice spikes that impaled his enemy, while she was still in mid-air. Juvia let out a loud scream of pain as spell struck her and she fell on the stone roof, defeated.

'_Juvia… lost…?'_ She thought, staring in the skies in shock, unable to move.

"How's that? Your fever gone down a little?" Gray asked, smiling a little. He knew that this girl is extremely weird, but she's not evil.

'_Huh?'_ Juvia thought as clouds started to dissipate and she was able to look into the blue sky for the first time in her life, "The rain… has stopped…"

"Ahhh, it finally cleared up!" Gray said with smile, looking upward.

'_So… this is the blue sky… how beautiful…'_ Water witch thought as sun reflected in her eyes.

"So… You still want more?" Gray asked with bold smile.

Hearts popped up in Juvia's eyes as she again misinterpreted Gray's words and passed out.

"What a weird girl…" Gray scratched his head.

"Gray!" Someone's voice called for him from behind.

"Elfman? Mira?! What are you doing here?! Shouldn't you resting?" Gray was surprised to see Mirajane here.

"Stop asking that already!" Mira replied resentfully, "I'm fine!" Okay, that was a lie, it was pretty hard for her to move, not to mention about running, but, unlike Erza, this blue-eyed girl with angelic smile is a devilishly good liar.

"Is this the third Element Four member?" Elfman asked, looking at Juvia, "She's lying there with a weird happy expression on her face…"

"She's weirdest person I ever meet…" Gray replied.

"Just one left." Mira stated. Gray looked at her questioningly so she explained, "If we just defeat the last Element Four member, we can stop the Abyss Break!"

"It turns out this giant and the spell are powered by the Element Four themselves," Elfman added.

"We can still make it guys!" Mira said with determination, "We'll definitely succeed!"

* * *

Down on the shore, Fairy Tail mages were all the nerves, continuing their fight against shades.

"It's been way more than ten minutes, and that spell still hasn't activated…" Max noted, looking at the seal.

"Ahh! This is driving me crazy! When's it gonna end?!" Nab exclaimed nervously.

"Hey… this giant… isn't it moving more slowly than before?" Laki asked, observing the giant's movement.

"Natsu and the others must be desperately doing everything they can to slow it down in there…" Cana said through clenched teeth, "We can only pray for their success… and protect our guild from shades!

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

However, Erza and Natsu still have no success in finding anything.

"Got something?" Natsu asked as he accidentally ran into his bride while exploring the enemy guild.

"Nothing" Erza replied, "No machinery, no people, nothing at all. It seems as if they avoiding us on purpose…"

"I can't understand – the power source – it should have massive magic energy signature, yet I can't feel it at all…" Natsu expressed his concern.

"Something is very wrong here…" Erza agreed.

"Okay, I guess we have no choice but to continue our searches – may be others had more success – Abyss Break seal still incomplete…" Natsu suggested.

"All right, let's go!" Erza said and they ran into different directions.

"Foolish fairies…" Nelliel's voice said as Natsu and Erza left the room. "I'm wondering – how long they're going to run around here before they'll finally understand?" She added as Gajeel approached her.

"Gi hi hi… Trash's fate…" Iron dragon laughed at his enemies. "Anyway, I'm off for the girl. Master wants you to keep them busy until my arrival."

"No problem" Nelliel replied.

* * *

(With Gray, Elfman and Mirajane)

"His eyes?!" Gray asked, all three were running alongside one of the corridors inside the enemy guild.

"Yes… Aria always keep his eyes closed. Apparently keeping them closed is the only way he can keep his immense powers under control." Mirajane answered, they were talking about the last of the Element Four.

"What the hell?!" Elfman shouted.

"At any rate, if we run into Aria, we have to defeat him before he opens his eyes!" Mira added, "If he does that, we may lose all hope of winning the battle!"

"How sad…" Someone's voice called, making all three to stop. Suddenly, with the whirlwind of air currents, an extremely tall and massive man, dressed into dark-green coat appeared right in front of them.

"I'm called Aria of the Sky. The pinnacle of the element four. I have come to slay the fairies." Man announced, taking combat stance.

* * *

_Spell List:_

**Mahō Shūsoku Hō: Kihoshi** – Magical Convergent Cannon: Jupiter

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Mōi no Sōtai** – Death Knight Combat Style: Fury of the Frost Emperor

**Seiryū no Keishō** – Star Dragon's Comet

**Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo** – Ice Make: Shield

**Shiēdo** – Shade

**Nemuri****Shūmon** – Sleep Spell

**Kaiga no Mahō** – Painting Magic

**Henshin no Mahō** – Transformation Magic

**Kioku no Ami** – Trap of Memory

**Y****ō****seki** – Keystone

**Shitsutta Mahō** – Lost Magic

**Burū ****Faiyā** – Blue Fire

**Haretsu** – Rupture

**Samoendo Raitoningu** – Summoned Lightning

**Faia**** Uōru** – Fire Wall

**Iryūjon** – Illusion

**Aisu Meiku: Ransu** – Ice Make: Lance

**Seikō Kudō** – Starlight Drive

**Sentō Chūkaku** – Combat Core

**Uindo Ejji** – Wind Edge

**Reddo Faiyā** – Red Fire

**Orenji Faiyā** – Orange Fire

**Chēn Riakushon** – Chain Reaction

**Reinbō Faiyā** – Rainbow Fire

**Abisu Bureiku** – Abyss Break

**Bīsuto Āmu****: Burakku Buru** – Beast Arm: Black Bull

**Sāberu Dansu** – Sable (sand) Dance

**Rosshu Konseruto** – Roche Concerto

**Bīsuto Āmu****: Sutīru Buru** – Beast Arm: Steel Bull

**Sāberu ****bāsuto** – Sable (sand) Burst

**Purattoru Sonaato** – Platre (plaster) Sonata

**Furu Bodi ****Teiku Ōbā:****Bīsuto Sōru** – Full Body Take Over: Beast Soul

**Uōtā Rokku** – Water Lock

**Suiryū Sanha** – Water Slicer

**Aisu Meiku: ****Senpu** – Ice Make: Battle Axe

**Shierā** – Sierra

**Zōkei Mahō** – Molding Magic

**Aisu Meiku: ****Aisu Gaizā** – Ice Make: Ice Geyser

* * *

Well, this is it people. Chapter fourteen has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW**__!_ A lots of reviews will encourage me to work faster! See you in the next chapter – **The skies are too small for all of us!**


	15. The skies are too small for all of us!

Good day people (or good _'your local time of the day_')! I'm here with my new chapter. Again, since there were no new manga chapters last week – no complains about manga, so here's just a new chapter for my story, as scheduled xD

**Thanks everyone who left the review, I'm glad to know readers' opinion.**

...

Answers for the **review**ers:

**Steam Powered Crow:** Thanks, I really think Cana should have a bit more screen time than Mashima granted her. As for trap – I really wanted to make I tiny preview of Tower of Din, since it going to pop-up many times.

**DraXXter:** You know, my favorite author is _Charles Lutwidge Dodgson_, I really like his style – no words wasted, every phrase actually means something. I'm trying to write in same style.

**Meow:** Well, here it is – the next chapter. Thanks for your support!

**DragonSlayer96:** Well, then I think this chapter won't disappoint you either – here's even more action. However, I'm not going to show all that Nelliel got – this arc isn't her last appearance.

**Silent Reader 6100,****FanFictionHunter: **Thanks people, here it is – an update xD

**Guest:** Well, this is the really high praise – I'll try to keep it that way! xD

**Mira-san:** Thanks. Read this one then – there's a lot of Gajeel here.

…

Now, let's proceed. Initially I planned to conclude the Phantom Lord arc in this chapter, but it already become too large, so I had to postpone Makarov's battle Against Jose for the next one. However, most interesting battles still here, so I hope you won't be disappointed. There's a notes about two used spells, I placed them at the end of the chapter to not spoil it. Good reading.

* * *

**Chapter XV – The skies are too small for all of us!**

…

August 28, X784, 9:05 AM, inside Phantom Lord's giant.

(With Mirajane, Gray and Elfman)

Extremely tall and massive man, dressed into dark-green coat, appeared before Fairy Tail mages. "I'm called Aria of the Sky. The pinnacle of the element four. I have come to slay the fairies," He announced, taking combat stance.

"The game walks into the bag!" Gray smirked, "Mira, hide! Elfman and me can handle him! Are you ready?" Gray looked at white-haired guy.

"The real _man_ is always ready!" Elfman shouted, throwing away his coat.

"No, wait!" Mira exclaimed, "Don't be hasty, he could be stronger than other members of his group!" She tried to warn Gray and Elfman, but they already rushed at the enemy.

"**Bīsuto Sōru!" **[Beast Soul] Once again, Elfman made a large violet magic seal, executing a full-body Take Over, gaining an appearance of The Beast.

"**Aisu Meiku: ****Ōgāma****!"** [Ice Make: Scythe] Gray created a giant scythe made out of ice and jumped into the air, preparing to strike.

"**Kūiki:** **Hetsu!"** [Airspace: Mantle] Aria extended his arms forward and cast a spell, making an invisible, solid but resilient wall in front of himself. Elfman smashed into the invisible wall and was thrown back. Gray tried to hit his enemy with the scythe but it collided with resilient wall and Gray himself was struck by recoil.

"Ough!" "Guah!" Both mages flew backward, head over heels.

"Nice try, but against my 'Airspace' magic, simple tricks won't work, **Kūiki:** **Zetsu!"** [Airspace: Suppression] Aria fired multiple void blasts at his opponents, which started to explode spontaneously around them, while Elfman and Gray was still in mid-air, damaging their bodies and smashing them to the ground.

"Nuogh!" Gray and Elfman both fell on the ground right in front of Mirajane, who looked at them in fear. They didn't even touch Aria.

"**Kūiki:** **Retsu!"** [Airspace: Rend] Aria cast another spell – air currents formed a massive sphere of compressed air, which flew toward Fairy Tail mages and released the stored air. Wave of high pressure sent Gray and Elfman crashing into the wall, with Mirajane along.

"Oaauuh!" All three screamed in unison. Yet, despite damage they already got, Gray and Elfman jumped on their feet.

"Nee-chan, hide!" Elfman said before he again rushed toward the enemy, raising his beast claws.

"We'll handle him! Mira, please, stay back!" Gray shouted as he extended his arms forward, preparing to cast new spell.

"Good," Air mage noted, "You are really up to fight. Show me everything you got, Fairy Tail," Aria said calmly, eyeing approaching enemies.

As Mira watched her brother and Gray's attempts to fight back the enemy, Natsu's words suddenly popped up in her mind…

…

**Flashback, about three months after Lisanna's funeral.**

"_I see Elfman is training quite hard." Natsu noted, sitting at the bar counter, "I think he's doing well, __considering the situation__. But how about you? Still have troubles with your magic?" God slayer asked. Natsu and Mirajane were not at best terms before, but after common tragedy they became almost a kindred people. Natsu frequently was around guildhall, just to keep Mira's company._

"_What do you mean?" The newly barmaid asked._

"_You know what I mean," Natsu replied, "Do you at least tried to perform a Take Over?"_

"_Why?" Mira asked with smile, "You think I can't handle the salver with booze without my magic?" She gave him a bit strained laugh._

"_Mira, stop it," Natsu frowned. "I know a lot about psychology, c'mon, I can help you to get your powers back…"_

"_Natsu, please…" She let out a tired sight, "It has nothing to do with psychology, my powers is gone. Gone. G__et over it, just as I did. I don't miss them – my powers brought only sadness to everyone. If you really wanna help me – wash these mugs" She pointed at more than two dozens of dirty beer mugs._

"_Gladly, but I can't," Natsu quickly stood up from stool. "I just remembered – I have to meet with the decorator. See you!" He waved his goodbye and quickly headed to the guild door._

"_Right…" Mira rolled her eyes, 'I don't know who's gonna be your wife, but I'm already pity her…' She thought._

"_Mira!" Natsu called for her from the doorway, he was already outside, "Powers doesn't bring sadness, lack of them does…" He said and quickly closed the door to avoid being hit by beer mug that Mira threw into him._

**End of flashback.**

* * *

(With Natsu and Erza)

Erza and Natsu were in the different parts of enemy guild, still trying to find the guild's power source, which is energizes the Abyss Break spell and guild's anti-magic shield, or at least someone who can tell them about it. They both feel some faint magic, but was unable to locate its source, so they were forced to check every room, every corridor of this quite large building. They were running around here for almost twenty minutes now, and they already checked almost everything.

…

In fact, shield generator actually exists. It has nothing to do with Abyss Break, but it energizes guild's shield and its energy was used for giant's movements. Also, Nelliel uses its power for her illusive spell to keep Natsu and Erza away from generator's room, hiding its signature. However, it can't last forever. _'Damn, what is with this damn spell? I can't hide this core forever...'_ Nelliel thought, she was near guild's shield generator. Master's order was clear – keep the intruders from magic power generator until **Abisu Bureiku** [Abyss Break] will be cast – shield will protect the guild from being damaged by dark blast and its energy will be needed to move guild back home. However, because of that three of four elements were defeated – spell preparation took much more time than intended.

* * *

(With Mirajane, Gray and Elfman)

Gray and Elfman stood in the middle of the corridor, wiping blood from their mouths and breathing very heavily. They got multiple bruises and wounds. Aria struck them several times while Elfman and Gray were unable to hit him at least once. "I'm rather impressed that you two are still able to stand. You're quite something…" Air mage noted calmly.

"Dammit!" Gray bellowed as he once again rushed toward his enemy as Elfman did the same with deafening beast's roar. Aria just played with them…

'_What's wrong with this guy… His eyes covered but Gray and Elfman together loosing so badly in this fight…'_ Mirajane thought as she watched the battle. She was hiding behind the corner, trembling in fear. Mira was not afraid for herself, but Gray and Elfman… and if they won't defeat Aria quickly – half of Magnolia will be destroyed, along with entire Fairy Tail.

"…However, before my airspace magic, there's nothing you two can do. **Kūiki:****Setsu!" **[Airspace: Fracture] Aria made a fracture in airspace behind Elfman and Gray. Fracture created an effect, similar to explosive decompression, which pulled Fairy Tail mages back with great force, sending them crashing into a column.

'_No, they can't make it!'_ Mira gnawed her fingernails almost to the meat because of worries and fear. _'They both too exhausted – each of them already fought against one member of the Element Four, and Gray used his magic to help stop Jupiter… I have to help them… but how?! I'm completely powerless…'_

…

**Flashback, about one year after Lisanna's death.**

_Mira was on the second floor, washing the tables. Time was about 10 PM, so there was very few people in the guildhall. She almost done and now was about to go home when Natsu and Sin came to the building, they just returned from their mission. Cana asked them about their mission and now they were discussing it. As far as Mira could understand – they destroyed some criminal gang that was terrorizing a small town. Also, it seems that Mayor's daughter was so fascinated by Natsu's way of dealing with criminals that she started to think about becoming a mage._

"_You supported her undertakings?" Cana asked as Natsu finished his story._

"_Of course, you know my position on this issue" Natsu replied. "This world is for those who wield power. Others should rely on our good will."_

"_Aren't you too categorical?" Cana asked, making another big sip of booze._

"_Not at all, it's just a true," Natsu replied. "Take those villagers, for example. Until my arrival they were trembling in fear before gang of pathetic rats. If you have the power – you can protect yourself and those who you hold dear. If not – you can only __hide in a corner, trembling in horror and praying that someone will come to help…"_

_Mira didn't even noticed as her fingernails dug into her palm so deep that it began to bleed, when she heard Natsu's harsh words, which was especially painful because truth can hurt much more than any lie…_

**End of flashback.**

* * *

(Fairy Tail back yard)

Here, Fairy Tail mages were fighting the last effort against Jose's shades.

"Oh yeah, where's Loke?" Bisaca asked as she understood that she didn't see him in a while.

"He said he has some bad feeling about Lucy, so he headed to the hideout to check her," Alzask replied, reloading his gun.

"Say what?" Wakaba exclaimed, "He skipped out?"

"I don't think that is, if Abyss Break will be cast, hideout won't be safe place either" Bisca said, targeting her rifle at another shade.

"He has good intuition…" Cana noted, "I hope he know what he's doing…"

At this time, Loke were running along Magnolia's streets, toward Fairy Tail hideout.

* * *

(Fairy Tail hideout, with Lucy and Reedus)

"I see… so I was put to sleep by Mirajane…" Lucy said as she finally woke up and now was sitting on one of the crates.

"Oui, this is our emergency hideout." Reedus replied, he was sitting at the opposite wall, drawing Lucy's portrait.

"I lost my keys…" Lucy said sadly, "I guess I just was on everyone's way… No choice then, yes?" She asked, her large eyes were full of sorrow.

"That's not it" Reedus replied. "She simply wants to protect her nakama, just like the rest of us." Reedus really possesses nice painting skills – on the portrait Lucy looked just like the real one, and almost as sad. "Getting in the way doesn't have anything to do with it…"

"Reedus… But that's why I can't just sit here!" Lucy exclaimed as she rose on her feet, "I've got to go back!"

"You can't Lucy!" Reedus replied firmly, "Think of what Mirajane…"

"But…" Lucy tried to argue as suddenly door into the hideout was destroyed by powerful blow from outside.

"Lucy! Stand back!" Reedus said, preparing his paints.

"Gi hi hi hi… So there's where you've been hiding, princess" Gajeel's voice said from the dust cloud.

"Lucy, hurry up and run!" Reedus said, drawing a cannon on his belly.

"What are you saying!? I'll fight too!" Lucy retorted to run.

"It's for everyone's sake! Please!" Reedus added, **"****Kyanon Bōru!****"** [Cannonball] The cannon, that Reedus drew, fired a black cannon ball toward dust cloud.

"Oh, you've making me cry…" Gajeel smirked, "How touching." Dust cloud dissipated and Gajeel appeared, holding the cannonball in his arm, he caught it with ease. Black Steel took a bite of cannonball, as if it was an apple and quickly spat it out. "Damn, cast iron! I hate cast iron, you trash!" It seems that cast iron for him was like raw meat for humans.

'_Reedus! I'm sorry!' _Lucy thought as her conscience cried in protest when she started to run, it seems she finally understood that she can't help Reedus without her keys.

"Not so fast!" Gajeel shouted and threw the cannonball in Lucy. The cannonball struck her by the back of her head, knocking her from feet as Lucy saw stars.

"Lucy!" Reedus exclaimed as he saw that Lucy've been hit.

**"Tetsuryū no Gōken!"** [Iron Dragon's Hard Fist] Gajeel covered his right arm by iron scales and slammed his iron fist into Reedus's belly, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Attempting to leave your ally and run away, princess?" Gajeel asked with scornful smirk as he lifted her from floor by collar. "You fairy assholes ain't so hot after all if they'd let somebody like you to join" He said and slammed his fist into Lucy's face, making her to fly out of hideout through destroyed door.

"Lucy…" Reedus moaned, trying to stand up but strength left him and he passed out.

"How weak… You actually like hanging out with guys like this one, Princess?" Black Steel kicked Reedus' body, sending him into the corner, like needless trash.

"Reedus!" Lucy exclaimed, trying to rise on feet and holding on to her face "You! You'll never…" She cried tearfully.

"Silence!" Gajeel demanded as Lucy was smashed into the wall of closest building by Gajeel's **Tetsuryūkon** [Iron Dragon's Club], and fell unconscious.

"Hmm… what's going on?" Black Steel wondered, grabbing Lucy's body as he looked at still incomplete magic seal "Why Abyss Break didn't cast yet?"

"**Shisuō no Kōsen!"** [Regulus Beam, KanJi reads – Light Ray of the Lion] Someone shot a ray of golden light toward Gajeel, making him to leap away.

"Now that's what I call the greeting!" Gajeel shouted almost joyfully as Loke appeared from the dust cloud, made by his spell.

"What you have done to Lucy?" Loke asked, holding his hands inside pockets. "Return the girl at once, or else… I'll erase from this world!" He demanded as his eyes glanced threateningly.

"Perfect, I've been looking to have some fun!" Gajeel said as he threw Lucy's body on the pavement. "Bring it on, Fairy Tail! Tetsuryūkon!" Black Steel transformed his arm into an iron rod and tried to hit Loke, but he disappeared, appearing above Gajeel. Loke engulfed his arms in golden light and engaged the enemy in melee combat with flurry of blows. However, none of his attack reached the target – Black Steel avoided Loke's attacks with ease.

'_What's with the strange vibes I'm getting from him?'_ Gajeel thought, examining the enemy during fight, _'He's not just some Holder-type wizard, is he?'_ When Loke made a pause in his attacks Gajeel asked him "Who the hell are you? You smell weird…"

"Don't smell me," Loke replied with smirk, "I'd rather not to be sniffed by guys". However, suddenly Loke felt weakness because of overuse of his magic _'No! Not Now!'_

**"Tetsuryū no Gōken!"** Gajeel slammed his iron-covered fist into Loke's abdomen as he saw him distracted. Loke crashed into the stone bridge's column and fell unconscious.

"My imagination?" Gajeel asked himself. "He was totally weak… damn fairy assholes, no fun with them at all…" Black Steel complained, looking at knocked out Loke, grabbed Lucy's body and headed back to the guild.

* * *

(With Mirajane, Gray and Elfman)

"**Kūiki:** **Hetsu!"** Once again Aria made a resilient invisible wall, which threw Elfman and Gray back after their attempt to hit the Air Mage. Both Elfman and Gray's magic ran out long ago, Elfman was in his human form and Gray was unable to cast anything as well.

'_No! His magic is invisible! What could we possibly do?!'_ Mirajane thought, watching this hopeless struggle as tears of desperation were flowing from her eyes like river. "Elfman! Gray! Run! You can't win!" She cried desperately, perfectly knowing that they won't going to listen. "He's too strong! He's really is the strongest of the Element Four!"

"Hmm… Still you get up, Fairy mages…" Aria said with slight amazement in his voice as his adversaries again rose on their feet. Only Lord knows how they were able to rise with these injuries.

"Well, we can't just let you beat us…" Gray replied, breathing heavily.

"We're a mages of Fairy Tail…" Elfman croaked. As they both spoke, spatters of blood were flying out of their mouths.

"We'll take you down, bastard!" Gray and Elfman bellowed simultaneously and again rushed toward Air mage.

"There's always somebody too strong for you, young mages…" Aria said and disappeared, using his teleportation magic, just when Elfman and Gray was about to reach him.

"What happened?!" Gray yelled.

"Where'd he go?!" Elfman was looking around, trying to find the enemy.

"So sad… But it's over, Fairy Tail…" Aria's voice said as he appeared behind Gray and Elfman. **"****Kūiki:** **Zetsu!"** Again Aria fired multiple void blasts at his opponents, which started to explode spontaneously around them. Both mages screamed in pain and fell on the floor, both were rendered unable to fight and even move. "You are about to experience the same pain as Makarov when I defeated him…" Aria said as he made two magic seals and bright light engulfed Gray and Elfman's bodies. **"****Kūiki:****Metsu!****"** [Airspace: Perish]

"UUAAAGH!" Both Fairy Tail mages screamed in unison as flows of magic started to leave their bodies.

'_Perish? Perish? Perish?'_ Mira thought, watching her brother and Gray screaming in agony. Time almost stopped as another wave of memories surged into her mind.

…

**Flashback. About seven months before current events.**

_It was early morning, Mira just came to the guildhall. Natsu arrived to take a new mission, Levy was already here too, awaiting for her team – they were intending to take a job as well. To pass the time, Levy was solving the crossword._

"_Oh, Natsu!" Bookworm noticed the god slayer, "May be you can help me?"_

"_Hi Levy, what's up?" Natsu waved to her._

"_You know a lot about gods, I need a name of goddess of song, six letters" Levy inquired._

"_Sorry Levy, you know I'm terrible with names" Natsu shrugged._

"_But yesterday you was telling the story about the guy named __Baldr…" Levy frowned._

"_Oh, come on Levy, don't compare the incomparable" Natsu rolled his eyes._

"_What do you mean?" She asked._

"_I mean, everyone know the warrior gods and no one interested in gods of songs or something… I mean, how the hell you can compose a legend about singer? This world respects power – gods of war, death, magic… oh, yea – of thunder! Everyone know them – this is what this world really need. Sooner or later any singer will be lost and forgotten. Rise up __Mjölnir and protect the others – and you will be remembered for all eternity!" Natsu was a bit carried away. "…Ops…" He added as he finally noticed Mirajane. "Sorry, I doesn't mean it, I just…" He knew she actually thought about becoming a singer._

"_No, you meant exactly what you just said…" Mira sighed, "Take the truth and hit someone's head by it – that's your style. Just like that red-haired witch of yours – you __two of a kind…" She said and before Natsu could reply, she went to the basement. No one knew it, but thanks to Natsu's words she cried about half an hour in the basement…_

…

**Flashback. About twenty-eight hours ago.**

"_Such weakness… it's almost a sin… and this is once feared devil?" Nelliel asked, carving a four-point cross on Mirajane's skin by her katana. Tied to a wooden cross by snakes, Mira moaned in pain, she couldn't cry because of a snake in her mouth when Nelliel carved a cross on her hip, right over Mira's guild stamp._

"_I'm wondering… everyone in your guild are as weak as you?" Dreamwalker asked._

…

**Flashback. About twenty-three hours ago.**

_Mira was delivered to the hospital by Natsu. He was talking with Erza outside Mira's __hospital ward, but she could hear them._

"_Countless times I told her that inactivity won't bring Lisanna back, but she didn't listen," Natsu said. "If she'd supported us yesterday – we could convince master to act…"_

"_Elfman said that she really enjoying the peace of her job in the guild," Erza replied. "Who could imagine that our own guildhall will become a battlefield…"_

"_I could" Natsu replied, "Peace is just an illusion. The first truth that my mother told me – peace is a lie…"_

**End of flashback.**

…

"AUUAAGH!" "YAAUUUH!" Gray and Elfman's screams echoed in the Phantom guild's walls.

"Don't worry, young mages, soon your guild will join you…" Aria said, as his spell continued to drain magic from Fairy Tail mages.

Mira watched at this with empty eyes. _'Annihilation? Whole guild? Gray? Elfman?! No… No! No! NO!'_ "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mira let out a heart-rending scream as her body started to shine. "AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Mirajane elicited powerful magical blast that destroyed half of the corridor and threw Aria away, interrupting his spell. Mira's appearance started to change – her eyes became darker, ears got pointed edges, hands turned into claws. Her hairs became wider, jutting upwards, also she got a large, stocky tail made of scales. She now was dressed into revealing, black and crimson one-piece suite with pair of matching, high-heeled thigh-high boots of the same color.

In the other side of the Phantom's guildhall, both Natsu and Erza felt the burst of familiar magic. They do not knew what happened, but now they both knew – she-devil has returned. Urgently they both rushed toward source of Mira's magic.

With immense speed devil-Mirajane dashed to dazed Aria and slammed her scaled fist in his face, sending him crashing into the column. "Scum" Mira said, staring at the enemy.

"Oh…" Aria said, slowly standing up.

"Mira?!" Gray looked at her in shock.

"Nee-chan?! Elfman was shocked as well.

"How very sad… It seems that Sol's information was inaccurate after all…" Aria said as he started to remove cover from his eyes "Well, I guess if I'm going to fight against mighty devil… even I shall have to take this fight seriously…" Air mage removed his eyes' cover and stared at Mirajane "Come at me… demon."

"**Kūiki:** **Hetsu!"** Once again Aria made an invisible wall as Mira rushed toward him, wall was stronger than before since Aria used his all power now. **"****Kūiki:** **Zetsu!"** Air mage fired multiple void blasts at she-devil, which started to explode spontaneously around her. However, with her immense speed, Mira avoided all the blasts with ease, covered her fists with dark magic and slammed them into invisible wall, destroying it by one blow. "No way!" Aria exclaimed in shock, "She destroyed my airspace by one blow?! She is…"

Mira reached the enemy and grabbed him by coat, **"Īburu Supāku!"** [Evil Spark] She cast a spell, electrocuting the enemy by dark lightning and throwing him backward. Aria fell on the ground as Mira cast another spell, **"Dākunesu Sutorīmu!"** [Darkness Stream] She extended her hand forward, creating a dark purple magic seal. Multitude of hands, composed of dark energy, appeared from the seal, and tried to grab the target.

Aria used his teleportation magic to avoid Mira's spell as he appeared behind her. But Mira felt his presence and instantly turned around, before Aria could do anything, casting another spell point blank, **"****Ebiru Ekusupurōjon!****"** [Evil Explosion] Mirajane combined her hands together, gathering dark-red colored sphere between her palms and expelling a powerful beam from it. Spell smashed Aria into the wall and made a hole in it, he was thrown outside the guild by explosion.

Fairy Tail members, which were still fighting against shades, noticed the explosion:

"What's this?!"

"Someone's fighting up there!"

"Look, someone fell out!"

Mira grew a pair of black demonic wings from her back and dashed to Aria, with intention to finish him while he's still in mid-air. However, Aria wasn't ready to lose yet. He again teleported behind Mira and quickly cast a spell **"Kūiki:** **Retsu!"** Air currents formed another massive sphere of compressed air, which flew toward Mirajane and released the stored air. Powerful shockwave threw her out of the building through the hole.

Mira quickly overturned in mid-air and shot a spell into enemy **"****Satanikku Burāsuto!"** [Satanic Blast] She formed a sphere of darkness magic above her head and released it at the target in the form of a large beam that exploded upon contact. Large, destructive pillar formed of Darkness Magic shot upward through guild's roof, damaging the building.

Fairy Tail mages saw it from the ground:

"I be damned…" Max said in shock.

"I can't believe it…" Warren whispered in awe.

"This… this is…" Laki stuttered.

"Yes, this is Mirajane's magic!" Macao exclaimed **"****Teiku Ōbā: Satan Sōru!"** [Take Over: Satan Soul]

'_Ugh… she's a strong one…'_ Aria thought, standing up… "All right, demon, I admit – you're strong. It seems I have to use everything I got to defeat you." He said as Mira flew inside the guild building. He extended his arms forward as air around him started to whirlwind inwardly until he became completely covered by it. Then Aria directed the spell toward his opponent, releasing golden speckles in that direction. "**Kūiki:** **Ochiru!** [Airspace: Zero] I have activated the airspace of death, 'Zero', This airspace consumes all life" Powerful wind started to blow toward Mira, Gray and Elfman. The two was still on the floor, unable to stand. "I wonder… can you survive this airspace?" Aria asked with smile.

Outside the guild, Abyss Break seal started to shine, it was completed.

"Look, its shining!" Laki yelled in fear.

"Is it… complete?!" Max asked shockingly

"Is this the end…?" Cana fell on her knees in desperation.

"Come on, demon!" Aria said with smirk as harsh wind from his spell made Gray and Elfman to roll head over hills, but Mirajane just looked at Aria with her head tilted. "Hmpf…" She snorted scornfully and rushed at the opponent, almost unaffected by his spell.

"What?! She's tearing through my airspace barehanded?!" Aria yelled in shock, seeing that his spell is completely ineffective – Mira was tearing his spell apart with ease. When she came close enough she made a dark purple magic seal, gathering darkness from surrounding area and released in form of large, powerful blast of energy, **"Sōru Ikkusutinkut****ō!"** [Soul Extinction] Rays of dark light shot out through the hole made by Aria as Mira's spell lightened up the corridor. Air mage himself got direct hit from one of Mira's most powerful spells. His clothes were ripped and body got severe damage, he was unable to stand. "AAAAARRR!" Mirajane let out a demonic roar and dashed to Aria. She stood on his massive belly, covered her fist with dark magic and slammed it into Aria's face with yell "Begone!" Mira's blow elicited a shockwave as Aria was knocked out and utterly defeated. "Such a pathetic worm like you can never defeat our master…" Mira spat on Aria's body "…that tale will never appear in your saga."

"Everybody, get down!" Max yelled, jumping on the ground.

"This isn't the sort of magic we can survive just by ducking our heads!" Warren shouted in answer, he started to run.

Cana just stood on her knees, knowing that it's impossible to run or hide from this spell, but suddenly huge seal just disappeared as giant stopped, not knowing what to do.

"YYOOOUUUUHHHOOOO!" All Fairy Tail mages shouted as one.

"You pulled it off… you guys…" Cana say thankfully. Most of Jose's shades have been defeated – it seems that imminent threat to the guild was averted.

"Ohh…" Mira let out a weak moan as her body started to fall on the floor. Her magic maybe returned but her body was steel weak, her Take Over spell wore off.

"Hey! Hold on!" Natsu appeared from the doorway and dashed to Mira to catch her body. "Nicely done," Natsu said as he made Mirajane to seat near the column and examined the Aria's body.

"Yeah, we're alive too, thanks for asking" Gray mumbled, slowly raising on all four.

"I saw you breathing" Natsu waved off Gray's acquisitions.

"You're man, nee-chan!" Elfman praised his sister, trying to hold on feet.

"Don't mention it…" Mira smiled weakly, "And thanks for the inspiration… you was right after all…"

"Of course I was!" Natsu exclaimed with false resent, "You had any doubts?" He didn't understood what she meant exactly, but if she thankful – he probably deserved it.

"You're incorrigible…" Mira sighed, "The four elements was the source of giant's power…"

"I figured it out when giant just stopped." Natsu replied as Erza appeared from another doorway.

"Hey, everyone all right here?!" She asked.

"You!" Mira pointed at dragon slayer, "I'm back, so you're on again!"

"Yes, yes, as you say…" Erza smiled, two girls may be rivals but now Erza was happy that she-devil emerged and saved… well, entire guild, not just Gray and Elfman…

* * *

When Fairy Tail members were enjoying their success, far away in the forest, inside Porlyusica's treehouse, master Makarov opened his eyes.

"Hmm? Makarov!?" Old lady was surprised, "How do you feel?" She asked as he sat in bed. "Hey, you should stay in bad!" She exclaimed.

"As if I'm going to listen to you…" Makarov mumbled as he hopped off from bed and headed to wardrobe to take his clothes.

"You going to your death?" Porlyusica asked emotionlessly.

"I'm going where I should be. I can't lay here while my kids are fighting for our home" Makarov replied and headed to the door. "Sorry for the trouble…" Makarov added as stepped out from the door.

"Honestly…" Porlyusica shook her head, "You never change…"

* * *

Inside the phantom's control room, Jose was pissed off to the limit. "IMPOSSIBLE!" He bellowed, "Those pieces of shit from Fairy Tail managed to take out the entire Element Four?!"

The control crew was scared:

"Err…"

"Well…"

"I'm sure there's been some sort of mistake…"

"Those who have not enough faith to fight with the sinners even worse than those who defeated them…" With green flash Nelleil appeared in the control room.

"Nelliel? Where's Gajeel? Jose asked.

"I'm right here, master." Gajeel appeared from the doorway, carrying Lucy on his shoulder like the sack of potatoes. "So, the Element Four were wiped out? Well, if they got beaten by the trash, that just makes them trash as well. Gi hi hi! I guess you should've just sent me out there to take them out in the first place." Gajeel came closer to master's 'throne' and dropped Lucy on the floor, "I've brought a present for you, Master"

"That was quick" Jose noted, "But you did excellent job finding her, Gajeel"

"Don't underestimate the nose of a dragon slayer" Gajeel replied, pointing at his nose with smirk.

"Gajeel-san, are you sure her sinful life still smolders inside her body?" Nelliel asked, eyeing the unmoving Lucy, "Our righteousness won't be rewarded if this little sinner dies, you know?"

Gajeel made a thoughtful face "Hmm… I did rough her up a lot…" He said and slammed his boot into Lucy's abdomen, sending her crashing into the wall. Lucy smashed in the wall and fell on floor, coughing with spatters of blood. "Hah! Looks like she's still kickin'!" Black Steel let out an evil laugh, spreading his arms wide, "Though those two who tried to protect her might well be dead…"

Lucy lay twitching on the floor, coughing and panting as even members of Phantom Guild became pity of her.

"As expected of an Ace of my guild," Jose noted, "Good job, Gajeel-san." Phantom's master took a microphone "Attention, all you Fairy Tail members out there. We've succeeded in capturing Lucy" Jose announced through broadcasting system.

"What?!" All Fairy Tail member on the backyard shouted in unison.

"No!" Mirajane exclaimed, "They found our hideout place?!"

"This is bad…" Erza said as she and Natsu were looking toward the voice source.

"…please, listen to this voice" Jose continued as Gajeel grabbed Lucy by hair and lifted her up.

"OOW!" "AHH!" Poor blonde screamed, "AAAAUUUOOO!" Lucy let out a heartrending scream when Nelliel plunged her katana through Lucy's right palm, through her Fairy Tail guild mark.

"Our first objective has been achieved, I'm sure you all heard that…" Jose said through broadcasting system.

"That's Lucy's voice!" Max shouted.

"Hey! What are you doing to Lucy?!" Cana yelled.

"…Thus we have one final goal that remains to be fulfilled: to wipe you out from the face of this world, disgusting brats!" As Jose said these words, Gajeel landed in the middle of Fairy Tail back yard.

"Hello trash! Do you remember me? Tetsuryūkon!" Gajeel transformed both his hands into iron pipes and swung them around, smashing down all exhausted Fairy Tail members in one blow.

"What's with this guy…" Macao croaked.

"He's not joking this time…" Wakaba said weakly, both were unable to stand up, like the other Fairy Tail mages.

"You!..." Cana tried to stand up but got Gajeel's boot slammed in her face and flew down from the shore into the gulf.

As if situation was not grim enough, gray clouds started to close the sky, and this time Juvia has nothing to do with it – it was just weather.

* * *

Inside the Phantom's control room, Jose headed to the door, "Nelliel, keep an eye on Lucy for me"

"Hmm?" Dreamwalker asked.

"A few insects seem to have invaded our guild. I shall have to let them know that they'll be seeing no more miracles. I'll deal with them all myself," Jose said as powerful magic aura engulfed him.

"Natsu, Erza!" It's up to you! Save Lucy!" Mirajane cried.

"We'll take care of nee-chan, go!" Elfman shouted, both he and Gray were able to stand now.

Natsu and Erza looked first at Mirajane and then at each other "Okay, take care!" Natsu exclaimed and they both headed toward the control room, Erza picked up Lucy's scent so they knew where to go now.

* * *

"Reedus? Can you hear me?" Loke asked as he hobbled inside wrecked hideout.

"Lucy…" Reedus cried, "I'm so sorry… couldn't protect her…" Paint mage was still on floor as Lucy's portrait lay nearby.

"Me to, friend… me too…" Loke was mad at himself. _'Damn I'm so pathetic! I'm completely useless!'_

* * *

"**Tetsuryū no Hōkō!"** [Iron Dragon's Roar] Gajeel made a deep breath and released a very powerful tornado from his mouth, which consists of metallic shrapnel, toward Fairy Tail guildhall. Old building, which was already damaged two days ago, started to crumble.

"NO!"

"Our guild!"

"It is…"

Cana climbed back on the shore and saw the destruction of her home "No! It can't end like this! Not our guild!" She cried desperately as Gajeel continued to rampage with devilish laugh. "It won't last…! Please stop…! It's already been reduced to ruble!" Cana was suffocating from desperate sobbing "You son of the bitch!"

Gajeel took a metallic decorative fence from guild's roof and ate it. "Meal and so many things to destroy – I'm like in wonderland, Gi hi hi hi!"

* * *

Inside the control room Lucy was crucified the same way as Mirajane – she was tied to the wooden cross by snakes, the hospital gown that Mira gave her was ripped off, so everyone were looking at her underwear. She, however, was not gagged so now she was screaming from pain, because Nelliel was 'drawing' some image on Lucy's abdomen with the edge of her katana.

"Hmm… I never thought that I'm so good at drawing…" Nelliel noted to herself.

"Err…"

"Umm…"

"Well…"

Well, she actually _was_ good at drawing, but the method she used shocked everyone. By the way, it was an image of Nelliel herself in victorious pose…

"Nelliel-sama… maybe… that's enough… it's not funny anymore…" One of the Phantom members pitied poor Lucy.

"Hm? I just want her to remember that sinful life is punishable…" Nelliel replied as she finished her self-portrait, "Okay, where I should draw the next image?"

"You… you should stop…" One of the phantom mages said but next moment Nelliel winded him full force, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Attempt to protect the sinner is the sin" Nelliel noted, "Be gone".

* * *

(With Mirajane, Gray and Elfman)

"Okay, sis, can you stand?" Elfman asked as he helped Mira to stand up.

"Yeah, just hold me a second, I need to catch the balance" Mira smiled, despite her body was protesting against any attempts to do… anything.

"You really kicked his ass badly, Mira" Gray praised, "You don't lost a grip even a bit"

"Just followed the advice Natsu gave to you," She nodded to Elfman, "Though, I should've try it earlier, before you were almost killed…"

Suddenly, extremely evil and dark aura interrupted their talking.

"What is this?!" Mirajane asked nervously.

"Ught! I feel a chill unbefitting of a man…" Elfman trembled a bit.

"Feels like… something crawled up the back of my neck!" Gray shivered.

"My, my… what a wonderful show you all put on…" Jose clapped his hands as he appeared in the corridor, spreading his arms in welcoming gesture. "Honestly, I never expected you to provide me with quite this much entertainment…"

'_This guy's…'_ Gray thought with his teeth clenched.

'_Phantom's top dog…'_ Elfman stared at Jose.

'_What a malevolent aura…'_ Mira covered her mouth_ 'Being so close to it… It's making me physically nauseous…'_

"Destroying Jupiter… Taking down the Element Four… Now, then… Allow me to show my gratitude for the splendid display…" Jose said, closing to Fairy Tail mages "…I found it gratifying…"

Gray and Elfman stood in front of Mirajane to cover her as Jose waved his arm and they both was struck by lightning-like magic streams. "No, get back!" Mira yelled but too late.

"Guah!" "Uaah!" Gray and Elfman screamed as they been burned by Jose's magic.

"Gray! Elfman!" Mira shouted as Jose waved his arm, eliciting powerful magic wave that smashed Fairy Tail mages into the wall.

Jose sent a stream of energy toward Mirajane, but he dodged it, once again performing her Take Over – Satan Soul. She dashed to Jose, tearing through his magic, and tried to hit him by her claw, but he dodged her attack easily, grabbed Mirajane by her demonic tail and threw away from himself. Mira overturned in mid-air and landed on feet.

"You… if I'm not mistaken you was wounded by Nelliel, and after that you fought with one of my strongest mages… How can you possibly stand?!" Jose asked in slight amazement.

"I have to protect my friends…" Mira answered, panting "…you can do whatever you want with me, but I won't let you touch those I love!"

"Such intestinal fortitude…" Jose smiled evilly, "You're truly the woman worth killing…"

* * *

"I don't care who this sinful whore is…" Nelliel said as she finished carving another picture, on Lucy's right hip this time, "All I see is mere vermin who committed crimes against Lord's laws. Who cares if she'd die? No skin off my back…" Dreamwalker shrugged.

"If anything happen to her you'll…"

"You'll get it from the boss!"

"This is me… caring… besides, I'll make everything to look like it was your fault" Illusive dragon noted apathetically.

'_What a bitch…'_ All phantom members thought as one.

"This is just an idiocy… those Fairy Tail vermin throwing their lives for this trust fund baby…" Nelliel said, looking for another place on Lucy's body where she could draw something else.

"Hah…" Lucy smiled, to everyone's surprise.

"Oh, I've got something to say, rat?" Nelliel looked on Lucy's face.

"You really are an imbecile, aren't you? I feel so sorry for you, it makes me want to cry…" Lucy said with bold smile.

"Teasing Nelliel?!"

"What's she thinking?!"

"She's insane!"

"Oh, so we're not just an eye candy?" Nelliel frowned.

"I'd be shaking in my boots if I were you!" Lucy exclaimed boldly and screamed from pain as Nelliel swung her sword and made a deep cut on Lucy's abdomen, right under the picture she drew.

"Care to explain yourself?" Nelliel inquired.

"If anything happens to me… you'll all became stains on the ground…" Smile returned on Lucy's face, "Fairy Tail would retaliate with appropriate force… that's the kind of guild you're dealing with…" Lucy's smile became wider, "You'd end up spending every waking second cowering in fear of the most formidable guild in the whole world, for the rest of your lives!"

"Oh, that's the fascinating little tale… you know, lie is a sin…" Nelliel replied, rising her sword, "I think I shall carve out that lying tongue of yours…"

"Nelliel!"

"What are you?!..."

"She's going to mutilate her!"

Lucy just closed her eyes shut, clenching her teeth in fear as suddenly… "**Senjin ****no Saiken!"** [War God's Crushing Fist] Making a hole in the floor Natsu appeared between Lucy and Nelliel and slammed his energy-covered fist into Dreamwalker's chest, sending her crashing into the Jose's throne.

"Ravager!" Lucy exclaimed with thankful smile.

Heavenly Blossom glinted in the air as Natsu sliced all snakes releasing Lucy from cross. Lucy fell on floor, as Erza appeared through the hole made by Natsu.

"Oh, shorty!" Nelliel exclaimed almost joyfully as she saw Erza, "I already started to think that you completely lost in my illusion…"

Erza ignored her and looked around "We're in luck – Jose's not here. Quickly, let's squash this bitch, we need to get Lucy out of here"

"Oh, so you brought a friend…" Nelliel said as if she just noticed Natsu, "Going two against one… so sinful… but you really sure you two should be here while Gajeel wipes out your guild?" Dreamwalker asked, pointing to the window. Erza, however, already dashed to it, as her dragon ears heard desperate cries from outside.

"You'll pay for this!" Erza growled as she saw their guild hall turned into pile of rubble as Gajeel stood nearby, holding Cana by her collar. "I'll go!" She said to Natsu, he nodded and Erza climbed to the window.

"No way I'll let you go, shorty!" Nelliel shouted, disappearing with green flash, however, one second later she kissed with Natsu's boot and was knocked out from her invisibility mode.

"You're not going anywhere from here, you insect…" Natsu growled, "The only way out from here for you is feet-first!" Natsu turned to Erza, she already was outside the window "Erza, tell Sin to get here… and good luck!"

"You too, be careful" Erza replied and jumped down to the Fairy Tail back yard.

"Now, let's talk about the sins, you and I, shall we?" Natsu turned to Nelliel, building up his magic…

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Lucy mumbled, crawling to the corner, as far away as possible from the battle between two slayers.

* * *

(With Erza, FT backyard)

"Too bad you had only one building, Fairy Tail…" Gajeel noted with false sadness "…maybe Ravager destroyed our building but we still have many, but you just lost everything. Gi hi hi!" Gajeel turned the guild building into pile of rubble and now he held Cana by her collar, showing to her the result of his 'efforts'. It seems she tried to stop him and now he intended to punish her – his arm was transformed into the iron club. Other guild members were lying around, beaten by Gajeel and unable to stand.

"Okay, let's deal with it" Black Steel raised his arm-club with intention to slam it in Cana's face as sudden yell caught his attention:

"GAJEEL!" Erza landed on the ground right in front of him and slammed her boot between Gajeel's eyes, sending him crashing into that left from the guild. She was dressed into her Lightning Empress Armor, but again – without spear – it was just her combat outfit – no more no less.

"Titania?!" Gajeel exclaimed as he jumped on his feet, "Good! Just when I thought that fun is already over, you showed up! **Tetsuryū no Hōkō!"** Black Steel released a very powerful tornado from his mouth, which consists of metallic shrapnel, toward Erza.

"**Sei****ryū no Hōkō!"** [Star Dragon's Roar] Erza released concentrated, destructive blast of plasma, to counter Gajeel's spell. Two spells clashed eliciting powerful shockwave that forced most of Fairy Tail members to cover their heads.

"What?!"

"She breathed magic from her mouth?!"

"Look she's unarmed!"

Erza's breath vaporized Gajeel's shrapnel and granted him several burns. Most of Fairy Tail members were shocked by that they just saw, but Titania ignored that – she was focused on enemy. "You better take this battle seriously, Iron Gajeel, because taking this battle lightly is the fastest way to merge with the void…" Erza said, building up her magic power as apparition of huge dragon with platinum scales appeared behind her back.

"I be damned…" Alzack whispered.

"A dragon!?" Bisca exclaimed.

"It's huge…" Max mumbled.

"How? What the…?" Laki asked as Gajeel answered for her questions, though unintentionally.

"So, that green-haired lunatic was accurate after all…" Gajeel smirked, looking at Andromeda's image, "You are the Dragon Slayer!"

"What else you two are hiding from us?!" Cana exclaimed indignantly – news about Erza was so shocking that Fairy Tail mages even forgot that their guildhall was annihilated.

"Later" Erza replied shortly as dragon's image disappeared, "Sin, go to control room, Natsu need your assistance" She said to boney dragon who saluted to her and headed to the destination. "You did this?" Erza asked calmly, looking at Gajeel, but her eyes were burning with hatred.

"Oh, do you liked my work?" Gajeel asked, waving toward guild building ruins. "Ravager is not the only one who can destroy everything he want… where's he, by the way? I hoped to fight him, not some trashy girl…"

"Hmpf… Gajeel, I don't care how you call me, no one interested in worm's opinion…" Erza replied scornfully, "But for our guild and my nakamas I'll bend that face of yours and turn it into iron filings"

"Familiar notes…" Macao mumbled.

"Gi hi hi! Sounds like fun, Titania!" Gajeel smirked "Try me!"

"Gladly!" Erza engulfed her arms with plasma as Gajeel transformed his arms into iron clubs and they both rushed at each other, engaging a melee combat. After quick exchange of attacks Gajeel shouted **"Tetsuryūkon!"** He extended his iron club and shot it toward Erza, but she dodged and Gajeel hit Max, sending him flying.

Erza jumped on Gajeel's club, stood up on hands, upside down, shouting "Here, taste this! **Seiryū no Kudatsume!"** [Star Dragon's Crashing Claw] She smashed her plasma-covered food into Gajeel's face.

Then she jumped on the ground and grabbed Gajeel's iron club with intention to throw him, but he shouted "**Tetsuryūken!"** [Iron Dragon Sword], and transformed his right arm in spiked sword. He swing it around, wounding Erza's arms and making her to release him. Few drops of blood flew out from cuts made by Gajeel.

"Don't you afraid to cut yourself with this sword?" Erza mocked him, using this time to examine his new toy.

"This is the Sword of the Iron Dragon" Gajeel replied, raising his arm-sword, "There's nothing that won't be cut to shreds when hit with this! I want to test how well this cuts on you, Titania Erza!" Gajeel proceed to assault Erza with his sword, making her to jump around like best acrobat in the world to avoid his attacks. Each of his attacks elicited a shockwave. "Can't stop it now like you did before, huh?" Gajeel asked as Erza once again jumped in the air to avoid his attack.

However, Erza overturned in mid-air and cast a spell, **"****Seiryū no Yokusen!"** [Star Dragon's Wing Flash] She created two streams of plasma from her hands and then sent them spiraling towards her opponent. Spell hit the target, eliciting bright flash of plasma. But Gajeel wasn't blown away – he used his sword as some sort of shield to block the spell, though only partially. "I don't need to stop it since you can't approach to me!" Erza mocked him back.

"Not bad," Gajeel admitted, "To be honest I wanted to fight with Ravager, but you didn't disappoint me either. Let's finish this, Titania!"

"Angel of Death is waiting for you, Black Steel! I'm going to send you right to him!" Erza shouted as her eyes flashed with white light.

"End this is Erza?!" Warren exclaimed in shock, "'Angel of Death', 'merge with the void' – where did she learn to speak like this?!" Max looked at him with pity and Warren quickly added "Oh, right, stupid question…"

"This is that worried you?!" Cana exclaimed, "Both of them are Dragon Slayers who can transform their bodies to take the characteristics of dragons! We actually witnessing… a battle between two Dragon Slayers!"

"**Tetsuryū no Uroko!"** [Iron Dragon's Scales] Green light engulfed Gajeel's body as his body became covered with metal scales. Iron dragon slayer rushed to Erza with immense speed **"****Tetsuryū no Gōken!"** Gajeel performed his fist attack, which greatly improved force. Erza had no chance to dodge, only thing she could do – block the attack with her elbow. Power of Gajeel's blow threw her backward, leaving a heavy bruise at the point of impact. It seems that Gajeel's 'Scales' spell was an analogue of Erza's 'Drive' spell.

"Augh!" Erza screamed from pain.

"Gi hi hi hi! That made a nice sound" Gajeel laughed and dashed to Erza, **"****Tetsuryū no Gō****kya****!"** [Iron Dragon's Hard Kick] Gajeel swung his leg, but this time Erza dodged the attack as Gajeel's spell elicited a shockwave.

"No way! His kick sent up a gale?!" Cana yelped.

"These scales made of hardest steel!" Gajeel shouted, "They'll render all attacks useless!" He added, making another leg swing.

"**Seikō Kudō!"** [Starlight Drive] Erza cast her own spell and caught Gajeel's leg, "Oh really? Begone! **Seiryū no Shōgeki!"** [Star Dragon's Shock Blow] Titania slammed her fist into Gajeel's face and sent him crashing into remains of the guildhall. Erza made a deep breath **"Sei****ryū no Hōkō!"**

Gajeel quickly stood up and did the same, **"Tetsuryū no Hōkō!"**

"It's the breath attack again!"

"Everybody, hit the deck!"

Two spells clashed, producing the powerful blast, wrecking that remained from Fairy Tail guildhall and scattering it's members. When smoke dissipated, Erza stood where she was, but she was spiked with several metal shards, her breathing became heavier.

Gajeel appeared with no visible damage. "Looks like the difference between our dragon elements is becoming clear, Titania," Black Steel said, walking toward Erza. "You may think that these energy attacks of yours is something fierce… buy against steel it doesn't even make a scratch. The metallic shrapnel from my Iron Dragon Roar, on the other hand, has got you looking like cute little porcupine…"

"Erza…" Makao mumbled.

"He's… strong…" Wakaba stuttered.

"Not a scratch?" Erza suddenly smirked, "Sure you're not a bit groggy?"

"Yaugh!" Gajeel screamed as he got several cracks on his scaled skin and several drops of blood spattered from these cracks.

"Nice sound indeed" Erza smiled, "Don't be so quick to judge my element, iron dragon. My plasma breath can incinerate the reality itself!" Whirlwind of plasma surrounded Erza's body "I warned you, Black Steel – you need to take this fight seriously, otherwise I'll turn you into metal scrapheap…" Erza's eyes flashed with bright light, "Now, when we're both warmed up… it's time settle this…"

"Wha…?"

"Did she just say 'warmed-up'?!"

"You mean… they just feeling each other out?!"

"Look at the damage that was already done!"

"That's Erza for you…"

"Natsu destroyed entire mountain… she probably just as strong…"

"There ain't room for two dragons in the sky" Gajeel said, glaring at Erza, "I'll strike you down… Titania Erza…"

* * *

(Few minutes earlier, With Natsu)

Nelliel rose on her feet and looked at Natsu, her smile disappeared – she understood that time for games is over. "On your knees, now!" Natsu demanded.

"Oh? Which of us should kneel?" Nelliel asked as she disappeared and second later two dozens of her copies appeared instead.

"This one!" Natsu shouted and slammed his boot at one of the image, sending her crashing into the wall. Natsu chose the real Nelliel as her false images disappeared.

"No way!"

"Nelliel was struck?!"

"How did he know?!"

"Still didn't understand? You can hide some trash from me Nelliel, but you cannot hide yourself!" Natsu smirked, warming up his palms. Natsu can see living souls – no disguise can hide living beings from him.

"I see…" Nelliel replied, pulling out her katana, "No elegant victory then, this will be just a rough battle… It's been a while since I fought like that… **Muryū** **no ****Hōshu!****"** [Dream Dragon's Gunner] Six energy being, shaped like humans with hand-held automatic weapons, appeared in front of Nelliel and opened fire at Natsu.

"Wow!" Natsu jumped up to avoid flurry of bullets, which was composed of concentrated ultrasonic energy. Natsu dashed to energy soldiers and struck one of them – he instantly disappeared. It seems bullets were real but soldiers were illusive. "Ha, piece a cake!" Natsu smirked as he proceed to destroy all illusive soldiers, easily avoiding their shots.

However, when he came to the last soldier, he suddenly was replaced by Dreamwalker herself, which slammed her boot into Natsu's face **"Muryū no ****Shō****sen!"** [Dream Dragon's Flash Attack] By force of the blow, god slayer was thrown backward. It seems Nelliel can instantly take position of one of her illusions, destroying it in the process. **"Muryū** **no ****Shūsen! **[Dream Dragon's Swing] Nelliel channeled magic into her sword and swung it around, sending powerful shockwave toward still dazed Natsu, sending him crashing into the wall, along with several Phantom members.

"No, not us!" They screamed.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed worriedly.

"My magic is graceful and I'm prefer to use elegant methods in my work – illusions, traps. But I can make an exception for the likes of you…" Nelliel noted calmly.

"Now you're talking our language!" Natsu shouted, pulling out his own sword and dashed to Nelliel. Their swords clashed in sword lock, but Natsu easily broke this lock and tried to slice her chest. She avoided the attack but not completely – her shirt was sliced in half. It swung open, revealing Nelliel's leopard-print mini bra. Dreamwalker was distracted and Natus struck her in abdomen, forcing to lean forward. Then Natsu struck her in the back of her head with his forehead, smashing her to the floor and while she was on floor he sent her crashing into the wall **"****Senjin ****no Shōkya!"** [War God's Shock Kick] "Nice chose of clothes," Natsu commented her lingerie, "But even if you'd be completely naked I'll still make you pay for everything you has done. It's do or die, Nelliel!"

"Oh no! Oh no! The powers of a dragon and a god are going to collide!" Lucy was all the nerves, she trembled, "What's going to happen?!"

"I'm surprised that you managed to appreciate my looks," She replied calmly as she stood up and threw away her shirt, leaving herself only in quite revealing bra, "Since you're hanging with that shorty I thought you completely devoid of taste for beauty."

"Uooohh!" Phantom members shouted as now they had two girls in underwear around.

"**Yume no Gazō!"** [Dream Image] Nelliel shouted, creating a copy of herself and both Nelliels rushed at Natsu, raising their arms. **"Muryū** **no ****Saiga!"** [Dream Dragon's Crashing Fang] Both Nelliels cloaked their right hands in an ultrasonic energy and struck Natsu with their fingertips. Natsu blocked the attack of the one he saw as real Nelliel, but received powerful blow from her copy and was thrown back.

"What?!" Natsu exclaimed in shock as his enemies moved for another attack.

**"Muryū no ****Shō****sen!"** Two girls performed similar leg attack, forcing Natsu to fell on the ground to avoid it. Dual leg swing elicited powerful shockwave that knocked Lucy from feet on all four.

"Uuooohh!" Phantom mages shouted as they got good view angle at Lucy's arse, barely covered by her silk thongs.

"What's wrong, Ravager? Wasn't you the one who asked us to fight seriously?" Both Nelliels said simultaneously. Natsu understood what's going on – it seems that image actually was Nelliel's self-enchantment spell, like Erza's '_Drive_' or his own '_Core_', but instead of doubling speed and strength it doubled Nelliel herself! Copy had no soul and probably was remote-controlled, but it was as powerful as original.

"**Sentō Chūkaku!"** [Combat Core] Natsu used his own self-improvement spell as crimson light engulfed his body and he quickly leaped away to avoid another double leg attack. Natsu made a deep breath **"****Senjin ****no…"** [War God's…]

Two Nelliels made the same, inhaling large amount of air, **"Muryū no…"** [Dream Dragon's…]

"Oh no! They're going to counter Natsu god's howl by dual dragon's breath!" Lucy screamed as she threw herself on floor and covered her head.

"Everybody, get down!" One of Phantom's mages shouted.

"…**Dogō!"** [Howl]

"…**Hōkō!"** [Roar]

Two streams of ultrasonic energy clashed with Natsu's antimatter tornado-like blast, creating huge magical vortex that ravaged the control room, destroying one of its walls.

As smoke dissipated, Natsu appeared on his knees, panting, as two Nelliels stood on feet. "You may be really possesses divine powers, Ravager, but even you can't hold against numerical advantage…" Dreamwalker smiled as she remained visibly unharmed.

"No way!" Lucy's eyes widened in shock "Natsu was brought on his knees?!"

"Oh?" Natsu asked as Nelliel's copy fell on knees and became half-transparent as real Nelliel suddenly got several bruises – it seems that damage her copy has received was partially reflected on her own body. "Auuuh!" Nelliel screamed in pain.

"Not always you can overcome quality by quantity…" Natsu noted.

Sin arrived to control room, "Natsu! What do you need?" He asked.

"Watch over Lucy for me" He replied, as he stood up, took off his coat and threw it to Lucy. "Hold it for me, will you?" Natsu asked, "And keep your hands away from my pockets!"

"No need to say that!" Lucy answered resentfully as she quickly put Natsu's coat onto herself, to great displease of every Phantom member in the room.

"What the hell is this thing?!" Nelliel asked as she saw little boney dragon.

"None of your business" Natsu replied as he noticed that all her references about sins and righteousness disappeared from her speech. "All right, I think that warm-up is over, Nelliel…" Natsu said as crimson mist engulfed his body and floor started to crack under his might, "These little sky are too little for all of us, let battle rejoice!"

"Wha…?!" Lucy's eyes widened in shock.

"Warm-up?!" Phantom mage exclaimed, looking at destroyed stuff.

"This is insanity!" Another one yelled.

"Then I'll bring you down on the earth…" Nelliel growled as her copy became solid again and stood up. "Bring it on, god slayer!"

* * *

(With Erza and Gajeel)

Most Fairy Tail members managed to crawl to the shore and hide behind the steep shore to not being hit by dragon slayers spells, providing freedom for Erza's action.

"I saw Erza's powers before… she was really strong…" Macao whispered in awe.

"Me too… But comparing to that she has now… back then she was weakling…" Cana agreed.

"**Seiryū no Chōgoku!****" **[Star Dragon's Light Sphere] Erza rose her arms, gathered large amount of plasma above her head and threw huge shining sphere at Gajeel. Sphere flew forward and created a massive, destructive explosion, forming huge pillar of pure plasma that shot into the sky. That was one of two spells that Natsu modified for her, using his own knowledge, making it even more destructive. That was the first time when Erza used modified version of the spell in full power. _'Wow!'_ Erza thought, looking at plasma pillar, '_As expected from my Natsu…'_ She smiled to herself.

Gajeel appeared lying at the bottom of deep crater, which was created by Erza's spell just now. His iron scaled skin was already cracked all over _'Crap! My iron scales… are useless against her magic!? No way!'_ But that was not only Erza's magic, but Titania herself was the problem – she noticed that Gajeel's spells mostly designed for melee combat, while her own spells mostly ranged. So she tried to keep distance between herself and Gajeel, sending spells at iron dragon slayer from afar. However, it wasn't actually that easy… "I'll tear you apart!" Gajeel roared and rushed toward Erza.

"**Seiryū no Kōren!"** [Star Dragon's Light Kama] Erza made a huge Kama made of plasma, about fifteen meters long, and swung it around, trying to blow away her opponent.

"**Tetsuryūken!"** Gajeel shouted, transforming both of his hands into large spiked swords and used it to parry Erza's attack.

"That guy… He's actually going toe to toe with Erza…"

"Unbelievable…"

"This is the power of lost magic…"

Few seconds Gajeel and Erza struggled against each other, "Raaaaaagghhh!" Iron dragon roared, straining all his powers. Initially, it seemed like he can't withstand it as he was pushed backward, but few second later Erza's spell weakened and her Kama disappeared – Titania was exhausted too. Gajeel saw the opportunity and dashed to his enemy **"****Tetsuryū no Gōken!"** Gajeel winded Erza with full power, forcing her on all four as he slammed his forehead in back of her head, smashing her into the ground, **"****Tetsuryū no Gō****kya****!"**

Iron dragon tried to stomp on Erza but she rolled backside and cast a spell, **"Seiryū no Shōryō!"** [Star Dragon's Plasma Beam]. Star dragon slayer created a spiral of plasma energy around her hands and then threw it at the target, generating a large whirlwind of pure plasma. Whirlwind caught Gajeel, dragged him into the air and exploded, causing massive damage, he fell on the ruins of Fairy Tail guildhall. That was the second spell, modified by Natsu, as he promised; he found a way to turn straight beam into massive whirlwind. But now Erza had no strength to praise her beloved…

Both dragon slayers slowly stood up, panting, they were bleeding and bruised all over.

"Damn, she barely can hold on her feet…" Bisca trembled, she was very worried for outcome…

"That Gajeel ain't doin' so hot himself!" Wakaba pointed at iron dragon slayer.

"Look!" Cana suddeny point at Gajeel, who took part of metallic dome, that was on top of Fairy Tail guardhouse's roof and started to eat it.

"Hey! It's not fair!" Erza shouted as she looked first at Gajeel and then at the clouded sky – she can't replenish her own powers like this.

"Ge hi hi hi!" Black Steel laughed as he suddenly became full of power – his body glowed with green light. "**Tetsuryūsō: Kishin!"** [Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs] Gajeel extended one arm towards Erza with the fingers outstretched, summoning the magic seal and firing a large number of steel spears in rapid succession.

"Aaaaauuuugh!" Erza screamed in pain as she got multiple wounds. Gajeel dashed to her and launched her in the air by powerful uppercut **"****Tetsuryū no Gōken!"**

"What happened?!" Wakaba yelled in shock, "He could barely stood just a minute ago!"

When Erza almost fell on the ground Gajeel struck her with leg **"Tetsuryū no Gōkya!"** making her to roll head over heels toward guild's ruins.

"Erza!" Cana tried to help her but Erza yelled:

"No! Stay out of here, he's too dangerous!" She made a deep breath **"Sei****ryū no Hōkō!"** Erza released concentrated blast of plasma, that landed a direct hit, but when Erza's magic dissipated Gajeel appeared almost unharmed.

"Gi hi hi, and this is it?" Black steel smirked, "Guess you're not so tough when hungry, right?" He rushed to Erza, grabbed her by hair and got her off the ground, making her scream from pain, "Well then, eat my steel!** Tetsuryū no Gōken!"** He slammed his steel fist right into her mouth, making her to fly head over heels toward shore. "That was fun, Titania Erza…" Gajeel smirked, raising his arms, **"****Metsuryū Ōgi: Gōma Tetsujinken!"** [Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Karma Demon: Iron God Sword] Gajeel clapped his hands together above his head, creating a gigantic iron sword. Then he swiped it down, destroying a substantially large area in front of himself, sending forth massive shockwave and smashing Erza by this sword.

* * *

(With Natsu, Nelliel and Lucy)

**"Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Byōhen Rimyō!"** [Morbid Dawn] Natsu swung his sword, sanding powerful shockwave toward Nelliel.

**"Muryū no ****Shūsen! **Two Nelliels made almost the same move as Natsu, sending counter-shockwave toward him. Spells clashed, producing another magic vortex.

'_Damn! This won't work!' _Natsu thought as he was knocked from feet but both Nelliel and her copy remained standing. Natsu found another trouble during this fight.

Problem was that Natsu's deathfrost magic was unaffected by his 'Core' self-improvement spell. Actually, Natsu noticed that tendency a while ago – during his spars with Erza while they were training – the more power your opponent has – the less useful your secondary magic is. It has some specific use of course – like in Reina's case, for example. But, in general – as power of Natsu's god slayer magic grows, his deathfrost magic becomes less and less needed. For example, thanks to little advice from his bride, Natsu found a way to channel his god slayer magic into his sword… This situation was especially sad since he can't trade this magic back in exchange for his hand… but he can sort this out later.

**"Senjin no Anshinshō!"** [War God's Dark Nova] The god slayer brought his arms together and created a massive bat-like entity, composed of twisting crimson energy, and launched it at the enemies.

All who was in room threw themselves on floor, including Lucy:

"Get down!"

"It's gonna blow!"

"Run!"

Crimson bat collided with the floor right under real Nelliel's feet, producing a massive explosion with ring-like blastwave that smashed both Dreamwalker and her copy into some machinery, destroying it and half of the room. That was modified version of Natsu's old spell – **Senjin ****no Bakusō** [War God's Explosive Spear] Using Andromeda's grimoire Natsu greatly improved destructive power of this spell.

"Aauugh!" Nelliel screamed from pain as her copy blinked again. "You… **Muryū no Orochi!"** [Dream Dragon's Python] Nelliel made a huge snake in the middle of the room that immediately proceed to attack Natsu. Snake was not illusive but Natsu easily sliced it with his sword.

"Ha, it's just not serious…" Natsu said with smirk.

"Oh? Than how about that?" Nelliel asked, pointing under Natsu's feet. Natsu looked there and his eyes widened – while he was busy with snake Nelliel's copy drew a magic seal right beneath him! **"Muryū** **no ****Hashira!"** [Dream Dragon's Pillar] Seal elicited a pillar of concentrated ultrasonic energy hat smashed Natsu into the ceiling.

"Guaah!" Now it was Natsu's turn to scream, however, when Nelliel's magic dried out Natsu overturned in mid-air and cast his own spell **"****Senjin ****no Yōshihō!"** [War God's Proton Cannon]. With his arms extended forward and completely clad in crimson energy, Natsu fired a massive, concentrated beam of the aforementioned energy at his enemies. That was the second spell that Natsu tried to modify, but, unfortunately, result was unsatisfactory – spell actually become less powerful, so god slayer continued to use original version. Nelliel's copy dodged the attack but Dreamwalker herself was smashed into the floor and received a massive damage.

However, when Natsu landed on floor the copy dashed to him and slammed her boot into his face, **"Muryū no ****Shō****sen!"** She sent him crashing into the control room's remaining machinery, which crumbled on Natsu's head.

Real Nelliel stood up and both of them rushed toward Natsu and began to attack him in melee, since Nelliel noticed that God Slayer has an advantage in ranged combat.

Two girls engaged Natsu with flurry of blows:

"Muryū **no ****Shūsen!****"** [Swing]

"Muryū **no ****Shō****sen!" **[Flash Attack]

"Muryū **no ****Saiga!" **[Crashing Fang]

Yet, thanks to his 'Core' spell, Natsu was in pair with two Nelliels:

"**Senjin ****no ****Saiken****!"** [Crushing Fist]

"**Senjin ****no Shōkya!"** [Shock Kick]

They fought running and jumping across all the room, destroying it in the process.

"Unbelievable!" Lucy yelled as she watched the battle in awe.

Phantom mages were shocked too:

"That guy… actually is on pair with Nelliel!"

"I can't believe it…"

"**Senjin ****no ****Sō****ken****!"** [War God's Twin Blades] Natsu made two energy blades and swung them at his enemies, blowing them away from himself.

"Nelliel's getting beaten down!" One of Phantom's mages said in disbelief.

"No, but look! Ravager is also outta breath!" Another one exclaimed.

It was a true – all three of them – Natsu, Nelliel and her copy were panting, covered by bruises and cuts, all three were bleeding.

"Damn… I can't… lose…" Nelliel croaked, "I have… no choice! **Muryū** **no ****Shūsen!****"** Nelliel and her copy charged their swords with ultrasonic energy and sent forth a shockwave, but not toward Natsu – toward phantom's mages that gathered nearby.

"No!..."

"What!..."

"Stop!..."

They tried to run but too late – Nelliel spell knocked out all nineteen enemy mages.

Lucy's jaw dropped on floor as Natsu asked in shock "What are you doing?!"

Answer came by itself – Nelliel ran closer to unconscious mages and made a deep breath. Immediately nineteen green clouds detached from knocked out mages and headed to her mouths…

"So… so she really does eat… dreams…" Lucy mumbled in deep shock.

"Damn! You sneaky bitch!" Natsu shouted angrily, mostly because Nelliel thought about it before god slayer did.

Two Nelliels looked at Natsu with smiles and dashed to him, assaulting him with flurry of blows, easily overpowering him.

"No way! She was on the ropes just a minute ago!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.

"No!" Sin exclaimed, "Dragon slayer can replenish his magic and stamina up by consuming things made out of their elements!" Sin's voice sounded frightened.

"But Natsu can do the same!" Lucy exclaimed, "I have Sagittarius's key! We just need… oh no! No more enemies left!" Lucy cried desperately. She got a good idea how to help Natsu – she wanted to call Sagittarius, defeat some enemies and give Natsu some 'food'… but no one left, Nelliel got them all herself!

**"Muryū no ****Shō****sen!" **Two girls sent Natsu crashing into the wall. "What's wrong, god of war? Can't support war efforts without supply?" Nelliel mocked Natsu **"Muryū** **no ****H****ō****k****ō****!****"** Both Nelliel and her copy made a deep breath and released their ultrasonic breath at Natsu, smashing him into the wall and making a huge hole in it. It was outer wall – Magnolia and guild ruins could be seen through it. Natsu lay on the edge of the wall. He tried to stand up, but he barely rose on knees. He was facing inside the control room, so he didn't see destroyed guild yet. "I never saw how gods fall…" Nelliel said as she came close to Natsu and raised her foot – it seems she intended to push him out…

* * *

(With Erza and Gajeel)

Being smashed by Gajeel's most powerful spell, Erza lay on the ground, face up, watching at cloudy sky. "Please… help me…" She prayed to the sky, once ruled by dragons. "I can't… lose… not again…"

"I can't believe it…" Wakaba mumbled in shock.

"Erza… actually… lost?" Max stuttered in fear.

"Is he really… so strong…?" Laki asked.

"No, it's not that… She spent too much magic…" Bisca replied. "She stopped Jupiter and ran through whole town…"

"And we couldn't help her…" Alzack agreed, "We're too weak…"

Gajeel came to Erza's body, "I have no further use for you…" He said and lifted her by collar, looks like he wanted to throw her away, down into the gulf, like useless trash.

"No!" Cana threw a card in Gajeel. Card just slightly struck him in head, since Cana had no magic to cast something. It was just a card.

"Oh, right, I forgot to punish you…" Gajeel said as he released Erza and she fell on knees as Gajeel headed to Cana.

"Please… Let me save… My friends…" Erza pleaded once again. "Please, Morrigan… if you hear me… supreme goddess… help me…" Erza herself didn't know why she pleaded to Natsu's mother specifically. But, suddenly, cloud moved aside, letting the rays of sun to fell right on Erza. Quickly she made a deep breath – rays of sunlight started to twist and they all heading to Erza's mouth.

"What the…" Gajeel mumbled as he turned around, "She eats… light?!"

Star dragon slayer consumed as much light as she could before looking into the skies once more "Thank you… mom…" She whispered her thanks to her soon-to-be mother-in-law.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST – Main Theme)

"Don't get full of yourself just because you ate some light!" Gajeel shouted, running toward Erza. "All that did was put us back on equal footing!" He leaped at her with raised fist but before he could hit her Erza slammed her plasma-covered boot in his face, sending him back, rolling head over heels.

"Guuaahh!" Gajeel screamed from pain.

"Look!" Laki exclaimed joyfully.

"She's at full power!" Wakaba was shocked.

"You mindless brute…" Erza growled, heading toward Gajeel, powerful plasma streams started to swirl around her, earth trembled under her steps. "You hurt my friends…"

Black Steel jumped on feet **"****Tetsuryū no Hōkō!"** Gajeel released his dragon roar toward Titania, but she made a deep breath and breathed the stream of air against Gajeel's roar, without any magic… and blew Gajeel's spell back at him.

"What!? She deflected it?! Just by her lungs?!" Gajeel yelled as he was struck by his own magic.

"…you hurt my friends and you destroyed my home, but… you also destroyed the place where I intended to celebrate my wedding…" Erza continued her speech as nothing happened "…do you know how much time I spent planning decorations?" She spoke calmly but earth cracked under weight of her fury, "How many sleepless night I had, trying to arrange guests in perfect order?"

All Fairy Tail mages gulped as one when she said that _'She didn't sleep because of...this?!'_

"Aaaaarggh! Who the hell do you think I am?!" Gajeel roared, building up his magic, "You trash! **Tetsuryū no Gōken!"** He jumped at Erza and tried to slam his magic fist into her face, but Titania just caught him by hand and squeezed it with such force that Gajeel's scales started to crack as he screamed from pain. _'No… I am… The strongest…'_

"You'll pay me for everything!" Erza shouted, throwing him back, _'Okay Erza, you can do it! It's now or never!'_ Erza raised her fist **"****Metsuryū Ōgi: Tengoku Jōshōsei!"** [Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Heaven's Kingdom: Rising Star]

Erza slammed her fist to the ground, sending her magic through it, causing underground explosion, destroying almost entire plateau where Fairy Tail's back yard once were, and launching Gajeel into the air. Then she jumped up to him, charging up her fists with her magic and, still in the air, attacked Gajeel with a continuous barrage of punches, each of which produced powerful explosion. Then she rose her arms, charging her hands with all remaining magic, and struck Gajeel's body by both hands. Flash from her blow lightened the skies to the very horizon, as streams of plasma, created by her blow, formed huge KanJi '天' [Heaven] in the sky. Gajeel's body flew forth and crashed into Phantom's giant, making another hole in the wall and forcing giant to bend back. Also, shockwave from that last blow shattered all glasses of Phantom's guild.

Erza landed on the ground, in the middle of the crater that she just made. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGG!" She let out deafening dragon roar that literally shook half of Magnolia, announcing her victory. "Now, Gajeel, we're even!"

(End of Song)

* * *

(With Natsu, Nelliel and Lucy)

"I never saw how gods fall…" Nelliel said as she raised her leg to push Natsu out of the guild.

Suddenly bright flash lightened the sky as something smashed into the Phantom's guild, broke several walls and ended up crashing into Lucy. Blonde was smashed into the wall by someone's body. Nelliel turned around to see what's happened. "Gajeel?!" She asked in shock, seeing him utterly defeated and barely alive.

"That… damn… trash…" He croaked as Lucy just moaned from pain. While Nelliel was distracted Natsu saw the opportunity – he quickly made a deep breath, consuming unreleased aggression from Gajeel, and from Lucy as well, making them both to pass out.

"Hey, Natsu!" Sin exc;aimed but he was ignored at this point.

(Song: Fairy Tail OST - Doragon Fōsu)

Nelliel slowly turned around, only to see Natsu already standing on his feet. All his wounds were healed as he was at full power. Unlike dragon slayers, god slayers can't restore their stamina along with magic when they consumes their element – they're restores their health instead. Suddenly loud roaring sound shook entire Phantom's guild.

"Did you hear it, Nelliel?" Natsu asked, tilting his head. "This was the victorious roar of the Dragon Queen who just put one of her defiant subjects back on his place… he was tasty, by the way, so much aggression…" Nelliel stepped back as she understand that now the odds is against her. Abruptly Natsu rushed to Nelliel and attacked her with continuous sequence of magic-enhanced blows, Nelliel's copy dashed to help the original but she was on the other side of the room as Natsu moved much faster than before.

'Boom!' He slammed his fist into her abdomen.

'Smash!' Leg blow into her face.

'Crash!' Elbow in her chest. Nelliel only screamed, receiving one devastating blow after another.

'_H… how…? We were on pair from the beginning… From where that burst of power?!'_ Dreamwalker thought as Natsu mage a short pause between his attacks.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRR!" God slayer let out deafening war cry, gathering his magic, glowing with crimson light. Fueled by anger for destroyed guild, humiliated friends and by pride for Erza's victory – now Natsu was unstoppable. **"****Senjin ****no Sentsui!"** [War God's Warhammer] Natsu made huge energy hammer and performed a raising strike, sending already weakened Dreamwalker crashing into the ceiling. "Time for you to pay for _your own sins_!" Natsu shouted, rising his arms, **"Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Senjinkei!"** [God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: War God's Verdict]

While Nelliel was falling from the ceiling Natsu jumped up and slammed his right fist in her face. BOOM! Powerful explosion shattered entire room. BOOM! Knee blow in her abdomen. BOOM! Left uppercut into her chin. BOOM! Left foot blow at her back. Each of Natsu's blows produced powerful explosion that caused significant damage to the building as Natsu continued his way up along with his victim. BAAM! Dual leg blow in her chest. BOOM! Headbutt in her face. Finally they broke through roof and Natsu raised his right arm, even sky darkened while Natsu was gathering magic in his fist "Begone!" Natsu slammed his overcharged fist in Nelliel's face, eliciting shockwave powerful enough to tear off giant's head. With his fist still pressed to Nelliel's head Natsu headed down, crashing ceilings by her body, until they reached the shield generator's room, and Nelliel was smashed into generator's lacrima by Natsu's fist, shattering generator to pieces by her body and receiving final shockwave from Natsu's technique.

Due to massive damage that Phantom's building received from Natsu's spell it started to crumble, in fact the giant was torn in half. Due to generator destruction Giant's limbs were shattered and its 'body' fell on the bottom of the gulf as right half of 'body' crumbled to pieces, leaving only half destroyed ruins on place of once Phantom's pride.

(End of Song)

"Now, you redeemed!" Natsu said, stepping on Nelliel's body.

* * *

_Spell List:_

**Bīsuto Sōru** – Beast Soul

**Aisu Meiku: ****Ōgāma** – Ice Make: Scythe

**Abisu Bureiku** – Abyss Break

**Kyanon Bōru** – Cannonball

**Shisuō no Kōsen** – Regulus Beam

_Aria's spells:_

**Kūiki:** **Hetsu** – Airspace: Mantle

**Kūiki:** **Zetsu** – Airspace: Suppression

**Kūiki:** **Retsu** – Airspace: Rend

**Kūiki:****Setsu** – Airspace: Fracture

**Kūiki:****Metsu** – Airspace: Perish

**Kūiki:** **Ochiru** – Airspace: Zero

_Mirajane__'s spells:_

**Teiku Ōbā: Satan Sōru** – Take Over: Satan Soul

**Īburu Supāku** – Evil Spark

**Dākunesu Sutorīmu** – Darkness Stream

**Ebiru Ekusupurōjon** – Evil Explosion

**Satanikku Burāsuto** – Satanic Blast

**Sōru Ikkusutinkut****ō** – Soul Extinction

_Gajeel__'s spells:_

**Tetsuryū no Gōken** – Iron Dragon's Hard Fist

**Tetsuryūkon** – Iron Dragon's Club

**Tetsuryū no Hōkō** – Iron Dragon's Roar

**Tetsuryūken** – Iron Dragon Sword

**Tetsuryū no Uroko** – Iron Dragon's Scales

**Tetsuryū no Gō****kya** – Iron Dragon's Hard Kick

**Tetsuryūsō: Kishin** – Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs

**Metsuryū Ōgi: Gōma Tetsujinken** – Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Karma Demon: Iron God Sword

_Erza__'s spells:_

**Seikō Kudō** – Starlight Drive

**Sei****ryū no Hōkō** – Star Dragon's Roar

**Seiryū no Kudatsume** – Star Dragon's Crashing Claw

**Seiryū no Yokusen** – Star Dragon's Wing Flash

**Seiryū no Shōgeki** – Star Dragon's Shock Blow

**Seiryū no Chōgoku** – Star Dragon's Light Sphere

**Seiryū no Kōren** – Star Dragon's Light Kama

**Seiryū no Shōryō** – Star Dragon's Plasma Beam

**Metsuryū Ōgi: Tengoku Jōshōsei** – Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Heaven's Kingdom: Rising Star

_Nelliel__'s spells:_

**Muryū no ****Hōshu** – Dream Dragon's Gunner

**Muryū no ****Shō****sen** – Dream Dragon's Flash Attack

**Muryū no ****Shūsen** – Dream Dragon's Swing

**Yume no Gazō** – Dream Image

**Muryū** **no ****Saiga** – Dream Dragon's Crashing Fang

**Muryū** **no Orochi** – Dream Dragon's Python

**Muryū no ****Hashira** – Dream Dragon's Pillar

**Muryū no ****H****ō****k****ō** – Dream Dragon's Roar

_Natsu__'s spells:_

**Sentō Chūkaku** – Combat Core

**Senjin ****no Shōkya** – War God's Shock Kick

**Senjin ****no **Saiken – War God's Crushing Fist

**Senjin ****no ****Dogō** – War God's Howl

**Senjin ****no ****Sō****ken** – War God's Twin Blades

**Senjin no Anshinshō** – War God's Dark Nova

**Senjin ****no Yōshihō** – War God's Proton Cannon

**Senjin ****no Sentsui** – War God's Warhammer

**Metsujin Ōgi: Ketsusei Senjinkei** – God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: War God's Verdict

**Shinunoru Tōryūgi: Byōhen Rimyō** – Death Knight Combat Style: Morbid Dawn

_Footnotes about spells:_

'_Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Heaven's Kingdom: Rising Star_' – This spell was developed from Oni's move **'****Tenchi Sokaigen'** from SF IV: Arcade edition.

'_God Slayer's Secret Art: Blood Star: War God's Verdict_' – This spell was developed from Evil Rue's move **'****Messatsu Goshoryu'** from SF IV: Arcade edition.

* * *

Well, this is it people. Chapter fourteen has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW**__!_ A lots of reviews will encourage me to work faster! See you in the next chapter – **The consequences.** It will be the conclusion of the arc, Remake of 'theather' chapter and bridge to Tower of Heavens arc. Cya!


	16. The Consequences

Good morning people (or good _time of the day_ whatever you have now)! I'm here with my new chapter. Finally, there was a new Fairy Tail chapter released last week so I can complain about it. Really, chapter 347 left aside Natsu and Erza!? Instead we again got some kindergarten-style fight…

Anyway, here's a new chapter for my story, as scheduled xD

…

**Thanks everyone who left the review, I'm glad to know readers' opinion.**

* * *

Answers for the **review**ers:

**Silent Reader 6100, ****Meow, Mira-san: **Thanks people! This is why I decided to make an almost complete repackage for ToH arc, I'm going to pack it with action at full!

**DragonSlayer96: **I decided that we all saw Natsu vs Gajeel, so… Yep, this story is action/humor, and in terms of humor 'theater' episode was one of the best, so I just couldn't throw it away =)

**DraXXter: **Thanks for the detailed review! And I can promise that there will be no one-sided battles in this story (well, main battles). I'll keep my characters in line, none of them will become OP, that's for sure.

**FairyHunter: **Thanks for high praise. Yes, Erza's source of power is starlight, sun or any other star will suffice. As for the moonlight, well, it's reflected sunlight, so she can eat it, but it will be like three days old hamburger. But in any case she need direct light, light, diffused by clouds, won't do.

**PianoNL:** Many thanks, here it is – new chapter.

**FanFictionHunter: **Thanks! Yeah, perhaps they'll do, they both have something attractively bitchy in them =)

…

**Now, let's proceed.** This is the largest chapter I ever wrote – more than 17k words. There's two reasons for it to be so large. First – I wanted to cut off all loose ends here so I could start ToH arc in next chapter. And second reason – this story is going on a short break, probably one or two weeks long, I want to finish the rework of **Blessing of the Scarlet Dragon** so I could continue that story, also I want to update **Fairy Tail rEvolution.**

Anyway, good reading!

* * *

**Chapter XVI – The Consequences**

…

August 28, X784, 9:45 AM, inside Phantom Lord's guild ruins.

"Phew… That was close…" Sin said to himself as he carried unconscious Lucy away from crumbling guild. He thought about Natsu, who was still inside, "Okay, I think that damn psycho will be fine, he can get out of there himself…." In the end, Sin's order was 'watch over Lucy'

…

On the shore, Fairy Tail members were still shocked by revelation about Erza and her battle against Gajeel, yet now they all were yelling cheerfully, celebrating the destruction of Enemy Guild's.

'_In the art of destruction he's incomparable…'_ Erza thought with proud and dreamy smile, eyeing the ruins of enemy's former pride.

* * *

(With Mirajane and Jose)

"Oh my…" Jose said, retaining his smile, despite his guild hall was almost destroyed and all of his mages were defeated, "…It seems that his nickname was really well deserved." He commented Natsu's habit to destroy everything.

Gray and Elfman lay nearby, still out cold, but Mirajane continued her struggle against Phantom's master. It was one-sided battle, extremely exhausted Mira barely touched Jose, while she herself was covered by bruises and her own blood. She barely stood on her feet, panting, and supporting her Take Over spell by her will only.

"It appears that this time you was the one who underestimated us…" Mirajane said, breathing heavily, "… especially Natsu and that red-haired bitch of his…. Comparing to them – I'm a mere girl…"

"Hmmm… Aren't we the modest one, Devil Mirajane?" Jose smirked, "You are indeed proficient in the arts of magic. No other mage has ever managed to last this long against me. I'll go as far as to say that, if you'd came to me fresh and clean, I may have had to break a sweat." Jose looked at Mirajane and raised his right arm "However, this is the actual reason for my fury – that such a skilful mage is a member of Makarov's guild!" Jose shouted, firing a lighting-like ray of magic energy at Mirajane, electrocuting her with it.

"GYYAAAHH!" Mira screamed, as Jose's spell smashed her into the wall.

"Shall I share with you my reason to allow that geezer to live?" Jose asked, waving his hand and making pillars of dark energy to shot from the floor under Mira's feet, making her to run and jump across whole room to avoid damage. "Despair…" Jose said, "I want him to experience the very depths of despair. How would he react to seeing his beloved guild and his beloved children on the brink of total annihilation? Ahh… I'd imagine it would be a burden too great to bear…"

Jose extended his arms forward and started to shoot dark charges toward Mira in rapid succession as she-devil was forced to continue running and jumping to dodge the evil magic. "Once he's hit the rock bottom… Then and only then will I free him from his pathetic existence!" Phantom Lord yelled maniacally, "Simply ending his life will not do! I want him to be filled with torment, resignation and anguish!"

"You, sadistic…" Mira tried to say something but Jose interrupted her as he suddenly stopped his attacks, giving her an opening. It seems he wanted to say these words during long time… "The Phantom lords have always been superior…" Mira dashed to him but Jose stood still, continuing to talk. "Throughout this land, our magic was unsurpassed, our members' skills were unsurpassed, and our resources were unsurpassed! Then, out of nowhere, in a matter of years, Fairy Tail came to the forefront…"

Mira tried to hit him by her demonic claws but Jose easily avoided her attacks, continuing to speak, "Gildarts, Laxus, Erza, Mystogan… People in our territory began to utter your names… That Ravager… words of his exploits spread like wildfire… And you… I'm already tired from seeing your slutty ass in magazines…" Jose spoke, easily avoiding Mira's attacks. "Right before my eyes, Fairy Tail was allowed to share the spotlight with Phantom Lord! That was unacceptable! How could a sorry excuse for a guild to be seen as our peer?!"

"Do you even imagine how hard our people worked to deserve their reputation?!" Mira yelled, still trying to hit Jose, without success. "Yet you instigated all this because of envy?!"

"Envy? You misunderstand…" Jose replied calmly, still avoiding her attacks, "I simply wanted to put your guild back on its place and remind you who the superior guild is!"

"You! You would go this far for something so pity?! Gyyaaah!" Mira screamed as she was entrapped into a ring of dark magic.

"I admit, all the attention your guild began to receive has been rather irksome to me… But the catalyst for this confrontation was a trivial matter…" Jose explained, holding Mirajane clamped inside the magical ring. "We received a request to recover the young heiress of the Heartfilia family."

"Ugh… So this is why you're after Lucy?!" Mira exclaimed.

"The daughter of the one of the wealthiest men in the country had joined Fairy Tail?! You had already stolen most of our thunder… and now this?!" Jose yelled angrily. "If you were given the free access to the Heartfilia funds… Your guild would be recognized as the cream of the top! There's no way I could sit idly by and let that happen!" Jose clenched his fist, tightening the ring of dark magic around Mirajane, causing her to scream in pain.

But suddenly she smiled, despite she just spat the bloody saliva, making Jose to clench his teeth in anger. "I don't know what's more pathetic – you losing your composure over something so trivial, or your incompetent intel…"

"What… did you say…" Jose growled angrily, it seems his speech has not achieved the desired effect.

"Lucy… she's a runaway… do you really think her family would really… give us access… to their resources?" Mirajane asked, retaining her well-recognized smile. "She lives in a modest apartment… paying 70 000 jewels in rent. She's got to scratch and claw… like the rest of us… just to get by…" It was hard to talk due to pressure from dark magic ring, yet Mira continued to speak. "She fights with us… laughs with us… and cries with us… she is … one of us… And now you're telling me that she was the trigger of this war? Because she's the heiress of the Heartfilia fortune? Like most of us she's an orphan – child can't choose the parents for himself! You don't know the first thing about Lucy!" Mirajane yelled as loud as she could.

"I'll just have to change that, won't I?" Jose snickered, "Besides, do you think I'll simply hand her over to her father? I plan to milk her family for all they're worth! Then I'll have the entire Heartfilia fortune in the palm of my hands!"

"You son of the bitch!" Mira Yelled in anger, trying to break out from Jose's spell, only hurting herself more as blood sprinkled from her wounds and mouth.

"Oh, I wouldn't struggle If I were you… you'll just make it worse…" Jose clenched her fist, making his magic ring to burn Mira's body.

"YYYAAHHHH!" Mira let out heart-rending scream of pain… but suddenly Jose's magic disappeared as his spell was broken and Mirajane fell on floor.

"That spell! Who's there?!" Jose asked in anger as some silhouette appeared in dust of crumbling guild building.

"You've spill to much blood… the blood of my children… thanks to some sorry excuse of her parent, a child has suffered and shed many tears…" Both Jose's and Mira's eyes widened as they recognized the voice. "That goes for all her siblings as well… Jose, your reign of terror will end by my hands!" Dust cloud dissipated and master Makarov appeared from it, ready for battle as he ever been.

"Master!" Mira cried joyfully.

"You're sure about this? Do you want to be the one responsible for Armageddon?" Jose asked with dark smile.

"For my guild… I'll rend this whole planet asunder…" Makarov replied with dark determination.

* * *

(With Natsu and Nelliel)

Dream dragon slayer lay defeated upon the rubbles of shield generator's lacrima. Natsu was sitting nearby – he also was very tired from battle. However, when Nelliel moved, he forced himself to stand up and approached to her, with Heavenly Blossom in his left hand. She felt a cold edge of his blade on her throat and slowly opened her eyes. Few seconds passed before she understood the situation.

"No… please… don't kill me…" She pleaded as tears appeared in her eyes. "Please, I begging you… I cannot die…"

Natsu looked at her sternly. "How old is he?... Or she?" God slayer asked.

"Huh?" Nelliel eyes widened "H… how?"

"This bra of yours… it's much more revealing than you think…" Natsu moved his blade from her throat and touched her breasts by its edge. "It was used to feed a baby, not too long ago…"

Nelliel sighed, obviously it's useless to deny the truth. "She hit three… just a few weeks ago…"

"According to your behavior, can I assume that her father disappeared?" Natsu asked.

"He was fool and coward… and I was young and foolish as well… I don't care about him…" Nelliel replied with scorn, "He can be well dead by now…"

"By Fiore's laws he's also a criminal, considering your own age…" Natsu hid his blade "…but it's not of my business. I noticed that you actually much more sane than you trying to look. The child could be a weak spot, you're hiding her from others. But no one going to ask some half-sane lunatic about unexplainable absence when you need to care about your daughter…"

"It seems rumors were truthful… It's impossible to trick you…" Nelliel sighed again.

"Anyway, in normal situation I would have you punished much more than I already did…" Natsu's eyes blazed with crimson light. "However, considering your situation, I'll leave you as you are now. Consider it as my thanks for helping she-devil to return. But you owe me now for my mercy…" Natsu turned around and started to walk away – he felt a familiar magic nearby.

"I have to go – I think he's going to use the spell that I definitely have to see" Natsu added, "Try to invent a good excuse for your bruises and wounds for your daughter," god slayer smirked, "And teach her to never mess with Fairy Tail." Natsu walked away, leaving Nelliel to rest.

* * *

Far away in the forest, near Porlyusica's treehouse, old lady stood silently, watching into the restless sky. _'The trees… the air… the Earth herself… they are trembling…'_ She thought, closing her eyes. "This is why… I hate humans!" Old lady yelled in sudden surge of anger. "A race of simpletons who see fighting as the only way to accomplish anything!" She shouted, swinging her broom around and crushing crates with her own stuff, "Makarov, you moron! If you're so eager to die – be my guest!" One of her apples rolled aside and someone picked it up. "Huh?" Porlyusica turned around to see Mystogan, sitting on a large tree root.

"Do you mind?" He asked the permission to eat that apple.

"I see… I thought it was rather odd that Makarov recovered so quickly…" Old lady understood the situation, "So, you're the one responsible for accelerating his recovery… you collected his magical powers?" Mystogan took a bite from apple, causing Porlyusica to scream angrily "I don't remember giving you a permission to eat that!"

"Gargantuan set the wheels into motion… This bloodbath soon reach its conclusion" Fairy Tail S-class mage said calmly.

"Normally I don't endorse physical confrontation amongst you humans… but, from what I could gather, you're one of Makarov's nakama. Instead of loitering here, shouldn't you be assisting them on the field of battle?" Old lady asked, pointing toward Magnolia.

As an answer, Mystogan threw in the air several dozens of phantom's banners.

'_Phantom's emblems?!' _Porlyusica thought in shock, _'Don't tell me he singlehandedly destroyed all of Phantom's branches!'_

"May I help myself to another apple?" Mystogan asked, taking apple without permission.

"I don't remember giving you permission to litter!" Old lady shouted angrily in answer.

"Honestly… You're hard woman to please…" He noted.

"The greater the power… the greater the repentance…" Porlyusica said sadly, looking at gathering storm. "Anger can cause even the wisest of us to lost perspective and get caught in the current of misfortune…"

"The darkness wrought by misfortune is intertwined with the light wrought by hope…" Mystogan shared his own philosophy, "For better or for worse, both exist to help shape the world we live in…"

* * *

August 28, X784, 10:00 AM, inside Phantom Lord's guild ruins.

While Makarov and Jose stood, staring at each other, Gray and Elfman regained consciousness. "Huh? What's with this warm, fuzzy feeling? This sensation… it kinda feel nostalgic…" Gray asked, trying to raise as Elfman perplexedly looked around.

"Leave here. Now." Makarov said sternly, leaving no room for arguing.

"Master?!" Gray asked in surprise.

"Why are you here!?" Elfman joined the question.

"Just do as he says!" Mira shouted, running by Jose and giving him last hateful sight as her Take Over spell wore off.

"Hmpf" Jose snorted, simply ignoring Mirajane.

"Let's go!" Mira said, helping Gray to stand up.

"But… but what about…" Gray mumbled.

"If we'll stay here, we'll just get in the masters way…" Mirajane said, as she, Elfman and Gray run toward hole in the wall, "All we can do is put our faith in him!"

Jose didn't try to prevent the three from leaving the battlefield. "Now when you finally decided to show your face, there's no need for me to amuse myself with your peons…." Jose explained his inactivity, "But rest assured, they'll be following you to the afterlife shortly"

"You're still the same yap as always, Jose..." Makarov noted.

"Can you believe it's been six long years since we last stood face to face like this?" Jose continued to speak, ignoring Makarov's lack of enthusiasm to listen. "Who could have imagined that Fairy Tail would blossom in such a brief period of time? But, in an even shorter amount of time, it's withered away…"

"The guild is not a building or emblems – it's the bond, shared by its members!" Makarov replied, drawing several stars, connected by shining line.

"Regardless, I couldn't have asked for much more. Here we are – two of the Ten Wizards Saints, finally able to settle our score. Your squirts give it your all." Jose said, raising his arms.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more as well," Makarov replied, "What pride all my kids showed in being a part of Fairy Tail!"

'_Okay, I think I'll be able to take a good look from here,'_ Natsu thought as he found Makarov and hid behind the guild's outer wall.

* * *

"Sin! Where's Natsu?!" Erza asked as she noticed the little boney dragon that brought unconscious Lucy, dressed in Natsu's coat, back to the shore. She was worried about her beloved, looking at gathering storm clouds.

"No idea" Sin replied, "I barely made it out when he obliterated that giant. But, he had a good meal recently, so I'm sure he'll be fine."

'_Natsu… please be safe…'_ Erza thought worriedly.

* * *

Storm clouds began to form a vortex above Phantom's guild ruins – obviously Makarov and Jose were fighting, using their abilities to the maximum, making Nature to suffer. Ground was shaking as lightning and thunder were striking rapidly.

Makarov struck first by sending a beam of light through Jose's shoulder, but Jose retaliated by cutting Makarov's.

Jose quickly recomposed himself, gathering ghosts in his hand, **"****Deddo Vēvu!"** [Dead Wave] He sent a wave of ghosts rushing towards the enemy, splitting anything in its path, including the very ground itself. However, Makarov quickly raised a defensive seal in front of himself, which neutralized Jose's spell, producing massive magic shockwave that shot beams of magic energy in different directions, which were visible from outside the crumbling giant, and caused a tidal wave.

"**Hikari Sōfū!" **[Light Blast] Makarov summoned three magic seals, forming a broad beam of sparkling light, which he shot toward Jose, forcing him to summon multiple ghosts to protect himself. Makarov's beam hit the target, causing nova-like blast to spread out around the Phantom's ruins.

"Damn, I really forgot how powerful this old guy is…" Natsu commented to himself as he watched the battle, "Okay, Jii-san, finish him!" God slayer cheered for his master.

"Not too shabby…" Makarov commented Jose's strength as he saw him withstood his Light Blast. "To have achieved such strength at such an early age… they were right to induct you into the circle of Ten Wizards Saints. Had you chosen to walk the lawful path, I have no doubts your successors would have looked up to you as their role model. The world of mages would have benefited greatly."

"Are you lecturing me, old man?" Jose asked as he listened to Makarov without enthusiasm.

"In accordance with Fairy Tail's code of conduct, I shall count to three before rendering Judgment upon you," Makarov announced, using his 'Titan' magic to increase his own size. "On your knees!" Fairy Tail master demanded.

"Ha!" Jose smirked.

"One…" Makarov counted.

"Please… I waited for your 'words of wisdom', and this is crap I got?" Jose looked at Makarov as at madman, "Me? On my knees?!"

"Two…" Fairy Tail master counted, bringing his palms together and forming a sphere of light between them.

"You expect the number one guild in the country to bow down to _you_?!" Jose growled, gathering his ghostly magic around himself, "Don't kid yourself! I'm fighting toe-to-toe with you! No, I won't hold back any longer, so I'm actually much more powerful!"

"Three…" Makarov finished counting, continuing to conjure the sphere of brightest light.

"Who the fuck do you think I am!" Jose bellowed, "I'm the man who will be known for having erased you and your sorry ass guild from the face of the planet! Be gone, Fairy Tail!" Jose shot his ghosts toward Makarov.

"Time's up…" Makarov announced and squeezed the sphere of light that he made, eliciting bright light that instantly wiped out all of Jose's ghosts, **"Yōsei no Hōritsu!"** [Fairy Law]

A huge magic seal appeared above ruins of Phantom's guild hall and then extremely bright light started to shine from it, wiping out all 'corpses' of defeated Jose's shades and forcing most of Fairy Tail members to shield their eyes… Natsu, however, was not among them.

"I can't see a thing!"

"What a hell is this light?!"

"What is this?!" Bisca asked, looking at beautiful light show.

"It's Fairy Law" Erza answered with smile, "Master's magic. It destroys only that which the caster believes is the enemy… It's a super powerful magic, now counted as a legend."

When Fairy Law's shine faded away, Jose appeared defeated, old, emaciated and trembling from fear.

"Just try glancing in Fairy Tail direction again and…" Makarov didn't say it but it was obvious what will happen then. "Your brashness got the better of you… Rest assured, the council will hand down more than a simple slap on the wrists… You should watch out for your own ass for a while… and same goes to me…" Makarov turned around and walked away.

Suddenly, Aria appeared behind him with a gluttonous look on his face. _'It's Déjà vu! I've, once again, got the element of surprise! History shall repeat itself, old man!'_ Air mage though, following Makarow, silently hovering above the floor. But when he raised his arms to cast a spell…

"**Senjin no ****Saiken!"** [War God's Crushing Fist] … he got Natsu's fist slammed into his face. He smashed into the wall and made a hole in it as he remained on the edge.

"Know where to cut your losses…" Makarov said, he not even looked at Aria, "The outcome of this battle has been decided. Trust me, you don't really want it…" As Makarov said it, Natsu pushed Aria out of destroyed guild building by his leg, into the gulf.

"Thanks…" Makarov said to god slayer. Of course, this time he noticed Aria himself, yet he was glad that Natsu was on guard. "However, Natsu, why are you still here?"

"Oh, you know master, there's always something you can learn, observing older generation…" Natsu answered casually as Makarov froze like paralyzed – he just understood that he used Fairy Law in front of the eyes of magic deconstructor.

"Don't… don't tell me… you actually…" Makarov stuttered, staring at Natsu.

"Yes, I do," Natsu sighed, "One of the greatest disappointments I ever experienced…"

"What?!" Makarov couldn't expect such reaction.

"Sorry master, didn't mean to offend you, but this spell is complex, expensive and unreliable. This count for three… It's actually has nothing to do with our code of conduct, right? You need at least 12 seconds to channel magic, this count need to distract the enemy, sequence can be easily interrupted…am I right?" Natsu explained his opinion.

'_Damn…'_ Makarov frowned _'I can't be careless with this one around.'_ Yet, Makarov was proud for power of Natsu's mind. "And what are you going to do with this knowledge?" Makarov inquired.

"Nothing," Natsu replied as he make shorty to sit on his shoulder to transfer him across the gulf, "I can't reconstruct this spell using my god slayer magic – Fairy Law was designed to distinguish between friends and foes, but my magic designed to obliterate everything. I already have spell for total annihilation. And my secondary magic… well, I don't have enough of it…" Natsu sighed again. "Damn, I even invented the name for my version of this spell beforehand – **Tōkeihaiki no Hōritsu** [Law of the Frozen Wastelands], and now…"

'_It's good that creator of Fairy Law couldn't hear that name…'_ Makarov shook his head. Master didn't ask Natsu to keep his new knowledge in secret, Natsu already sworn to keep guild's secrets as S-class mage, and his vow of honor is unbreakable.

* * *

On the shore, Fairy Tail members were celebrating their victory, cheering, dancing and throwing in the air their hats, magic stuff and everything else they got.

"Hey, look, there they are!" Sin pointed to the sea and Erza turned around to see Natsu and Makarov, riding on god slayer's shoulder.

"Phew…" She let out a sigh of relief, of course she was worried. But suddenly she found herself surrounded by Fairy Tail mages. "Oh, yea, I think I can spare a little explanation…" She sighed as Cana raised an eyebrow.

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and perplexedly looked around. "Huh?" She asked, "Where am I?!"

"Gajeel crashed into you and you passed out" Sin replied, sparing some details, "But everything is all right now – Natsu defeated Nelliel and Master returned and dealt with Jose, we are victorious!" Sin tried to cheer her up.

"I see…" Lucy replied sadly, "Then I missed everything…" However, she was so sad not because of it.

"Thanks for the ride" Makarov said, hopping off from Natsu's shoulder and heading to examine the damage done to the guild building.

Erza quickly replaced him, jumping on Natsu and wrapping her limbs around him. "We made it, Natsu! We made it!" She exclaimed joyfully, consuming him into passionate kiss. And she was so glad that she has someone with whom she share her great joy.

"Thanks to you…" Natsu whispered when she released his lips. "I was on edge of defeat when you delivered a meal for me…" Erza looked at him questioningly so he explained. "When you defeated Gajeel he crashed into the room where I fought with Nelliel. I consumed his aggression and won, so thank you."

Suddenly, Erza's face lit up with understanding and she giggled.

"What?" Natsu smiled.

"No, nothing" She replied and kissed him again. May be when Morrigan helped her to defeat Gajeel (yep, Erza really think that it was she), she also corrected the trajectory of Gajeel's body flight, to the room where Natsu fought with Nelliel. Erza thought that Natsu's mother actually still watching over him and helps him, though indirectly… or maybe he's just very lucky, who knows… "Oh, you looks so manly without your coat…" She moaned, pressing herself to Natsu.

"Man… it's not just crumbled… it completely obliterated…" Makarov mumbled as he watched the place where guild hall once was.

"Well… to be honest…" Macao said uncertainly, "It wasn't that bad until Erza's fight against Gajeel. She annihilated all that remained from guildhall, this is also her doings…" He pointed at deep crater that now was filled with water from the gulf. Here was a guild's backyard just an hour ago "…but, she had no choice, trust me master, she saved us all!"

Makarov sighed, as he was afraid – after she built her relationships with god slayer and learned dragon slayer magic – Erza became as destructive as Natsu himself. _'At least she didn't damaged Lumen Histore, or it could be a catastrophe…'_ Makarov looked at dragon slayer, she still was hanging on Natsu. _'Youngsters…'_ He again examined the place. "Actually, I had planned on some renovations a while ago… but this…"

"Umm… master…" Lucy said in apologizing tone as she came closer to Makarov. It's good that Natsu let her wear his coat by now so no one could see that Nelliel have done with her skin.

"Hmm?" Makarov turned around, "Looks like they put you through the ringer as well…" Lucy looked down, trying to find some words, but suddenly she heard cheering voice behind.

"Don't give us that face, Lu-chan!" Levy's voice said.

"Huh?!" Lucy quickly turned around.

"We're back!" Levy announced cheerfully, giving Lucy a wink.

"Actually, this is what I call 'mediocre mages'…" Natsu mumbled, looking at team Shadow Gear, forcing Erza to kiss him again, mostly to shut him up.

"Levy-chan!?" Lucy exclaimed.

"Everyone worked together to defeat the enemy…" Levy said.

"Aha, except you and your fatuous friends…" Natsu mumbled, gaining another 'be silent' kiss.

"Although the guild hall was destroyed…" Droy said.

"But we all just need to rebuild it" Jet added.

"You can start right now…" – another comment.

"Natsu, stop it or I'll bite off your tongue, I swear!" Erza was already breathless from kisses. _'How large your lungs are?!'_

"Sorry for making you worry, Lu-chan." Levy apologized.

"No, this is all my fa…" Lucy tried to reply.

"Everyone here knows the score. There's no need to beat yourself up over it. It's all good, Lu-chan…" Levy again tried to cheer up Lucy.

"On the other hand…" Reedus said, scratching his head "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help"

"No, no, it's not…" Lucy said.

"Lucy." Master called for her. "Every time you laugh, every time you grieve… pieces of those moments… become ours as well… that's what it means to be a member of our guild. When a member is on cloud nine – we're all float. When a member is outraged – we all clench our teeth. When a member weeps – we all wipe our eyes…"

"I don't… auch!" Erza bit Natsu's nose for this comment.

As Lucy listened to master's speech, she trembled, unable to hold her tears.

"…so you have no reasons to be riddled with guilt… because no one here holds you responsible…" Master continued to speak, "…and why would they? You are, after all, member of our family, member of Fairy Tail"

Lucy couldn't hold it any longer and started to sob, making Natsu to face-palm, "Hey, give me my coat back, weepie… auch!"

"Although… we went a bit overboard…" Makarov mumbled to himself, "This is going to seriously anger the Council…" Master started to sweat all over, "Or wait, if it goes poorly, may be even imprisonment… Waaaaahhhh!" Makarov also started to sob, shocking everyone.

* * *

September 1, X784, 3:15 PM, Kardia Cathedral.

Natsu and Mirajane came to visit Lisanna's grave.

"I'm sorry, Lisanna," Mirajane said sorrowfully, "I'm sure you saw it yourself – I've done everything I could. I tried to make things your way, but… it did not work" Mirajane let out a deep sight. "I have to walk my own path," Mira added, placing a bouquet of flowers on her sister's tombstone as tears swelled in her eyes.

"I know, I know, you want to scold me for defiling your sister's soul," Natsu said in defensive tone, causing Mira to smile a bit, through tears. "But, Lis… you tried to stop the beast with smile and… this world doesn't deserves smiles…" Natsu whispered silently before speaking loud again. "But now we'll be all right, don't worry," Natsu said almost cheerfully, touching the tombstone as if it was Lisanna's shoulder.

"Rest in peace, my beloved sister" Mira said as she and Natsu headed to graveyard's exit. "Okay, Natsu, do you have some free time?" Mirajane asked, wiping out tears, as they left the graveyard.

"Hmm? Yes, I think I am – I've done with my business for today and Erza is with Lucy – some wedding stuff, so I think I'm free for a few hours," He replied.

"Good, you can help me with some shopping then, I need to refresh my wardrobe," Mira stated, heading toward Magnolia's central streets.

Actually, Natsu was like an older brother for Mirajane, despite that, in point of fact, he was younger than she. To be honest, after Lisanna's death, Mira thought about romantic relationships with Natsu. However, no matter how deep and how long she searched, she didn't find a romantic interest to Natsu inside herself. Initially, she was very worried about it – she thought that there is something wrong with her. Natsu is strong, handsome, rich, brilliant-minded young man and… she sees him only as a good friend?! But once Mira asked Cana about her interest in Natsu, and found out that Cana too has no interest in him, which she too can't explain. Moreover, not long after she joined, Lucy too said that she has no interest in him, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's already taken – she just can't think of him in romantic way. All three girls were confused because of it, but in the end it turned out to be a good thing – their hearts couldn't be hurt since Natsu was already taken.

However, this situation made Natsu the perfect helpmate for clothes shopping – he can express man's point of view about clothing without making a girl embarrassed. Besides, he possesses really good dress sense – for example, the clothes that he recently bought for Erza ware not vulgar, not at all, yet they made many men nose-bleed…

"Oh… all right..." Natsu rolled his eyes, "But don't you dare to tell Erza about it. If she'll know that I was around dressing room with you inside it, she may become upset, and you really don't want to see her upset, trust me…"

Actually, the fact that Natsu's best friend is a woman was irritating for Erza by itself, but the fact that this woman is Mirajane quadrupled her irritation. Titania knew perfectly that she, Erza, is Natsu's one and only romantic interest now and forever – it's sealed in the soul of this world, yet other women around him irritated her – she couldn't help it.

* * *

Few hours later…

"You run from one extreme to another..." Natsu shook his head when he was walking Mirajane out to her home. It seems Mira decided to revel for three year of 'abstinence'.

Firstly, when they came to the shop, Mira took off her pink dress, right in front of shop doors, before everyone's eyes, and threw it into a dumpster. "Everyone saw me in my underwear" She shrugged in response on Natsu's reproaching sight. Well, she's photo model, after all, so… okay, she's right.

Secondly, it was gothic fashion store, no more no less. When they came out from the shop Mira was dressed into following set of clothes:

On top she wore a black cotton shirt, sleeveless with fishnet on bust and back, torn holes and drawstring detail on both sides. Arm opening and neck were detailed with metal rivets. Back was made completely of light thread fishnet fabric, so actually her back was almost exposed.

Gothic skirt with removable pocket-belt, layered with lace. Skirt was three-layered, cotton with black lace. Removable belt has pressure buttons closure, zipper detail, and pouch-pockets on the sides. Skirt was so short that each time Mira when leans down… well, it's good that her underwear is always clean

Also she wore pair of black stretchy cotton gloves. Detailed with flat cone rivets, they were designed with thumb hole, no fingers, decorated with shiny metal rivets and had open holes on both sides of the wrist.

On Mira's neck was black bondage style leather choker ornate with short killer spikes, and a bondage ring.

In addition, she now wore black leather thigh-high platform boots. Thanks to these 10 cm platforms Mira now was of the same height as Erza. [A/N: Again, according to Mashima's blog, Mira is a relatively low girl – her height is 159 cm. Her sister is a bit taller – 162. Lucy is 165]

Also, Mira disposed of her signature, short, upward ponytail – now her fringe fell over her forehead as her head was adorned by a black silky band with two large ribbons on it.

However, most distinctive feature that Mirajane just got was a tattoo on her back (just temporary, to be honest, Mira was too careful to permanently taint her skin). Black demonic backbone along her spine with red snake wrapped around it. It was clearly visible through back of Mirajane's new shirt made of light fishnet.

"Could never imagine that you has so sadistic nature, Mira," Natsu noted as they walked along Magnolia's streets, "Some people may die from nose-bleeding…"

"Look who's talking – Satan rebuking sins!" Mira exclaimed, "_You_ chose this clothing for me, and tattoo was _your_ idea!"

"I just said 'tattoo could supplement your new looks', and you approved all my ideas," He shrugged… well, Natsu's sadistic nature was well-known, actually.

* * *

September 4, X784, 9:00 AM, Lucy's house.

Lucy sat at her desk, writing letter to her mother.

'_A week had passed since we finished our battle with Phantom, and it looks like we're finally back to some semblance of normality._

_Well, actually, right after battle had ended, things got more than a little out of hands though… We were paid a little visit by a Council's lapdogs…'_

…

**Flashback.**

"Nobody move a muscle! We are the personal constable of the council – the rune knights!" Rune knight's captain announced as they rounded up Fairy Tail.

"Oh, crap!" Gray exclaimed.

"Looks like they finally got a wind of what went down…" Cana developed a sweatdrop.

"Hmm… I think I know this guy…" Natsu narrowed his eyes, looking at Rune Knights' captain.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Mirajane looked at Natsu with suspicions.

"Go back to the hospital already," He replied.

"Hey!" She exclaimed resentfully.

"Waaahhhh!" Makarov continued to sob.

"Master! Pull yourself together!" Erza was shocked by master's behavior.

**Flashback end.**

…

'_We were all escorted to their garrison for questioning… Well, we all, except Natsu and Erza, who were allowed to return home, they only had to come for interrogations, but after that they were free to leave… I think Natsu bribed the chief investigator…_

_Well, others were held in camp and we had to endure daily interrogations. It took them three days to get whatever it was they were after…_

_They're mulling over punishment options for Fairy Tail… And it appears as though the decision will be handed down on a later date…_

_But there's no need to worry about me, mother! I doubt they'll come on us with too severe penalty… After all, we have evidence and eyewitnesses reports pointing toward Phantom being the catalyst behind the chain of events…_

"Auch…" It was hard to write, the wound that Nelliel made on Lucy's right palm was still hurt, "I hope this doesn't leave a scar or anything…"

…_Last four days we spent resting, but Master said that we're going to start rebuilding our guildhall today. It's a good news, despite Erza is in panic, she need to 're-plan banquette according to new guildhall layout' and as her maid of honor I must help her…'_

Accidentally, Lucy touched her abdomen "Jeez…" She looked at large bruise there, "It's still hurt as well…" However, bruises were not her biggest problem. "Damn! These things doesn't goes away!" The drawings that Nelliel made on Lucy's skin, they turned into scars and were still there… "I need to find a way to rid of these damn pictures, or no one gonna marry me!" Lucy cried in slight panic, scaring away some birds as her sight fell on their nest… She remembered something…

'_Hey, mom… please, tell me this wasn't another one of his harebrained schemes?! I know he can be deranged at times but… this was a bit too much, even for him… However…' _Luce remembered some unpleasant episode from her eleventh birthday, when father yelled at her.

'_Actually… the more I think about it… the more I realize that he's more than capable of such a thing… Does my friends were right? Does he really want to use me for some deal?! To make me marry someone?!_

_Mom, this is just the beginning then? He'll use his almost unlimited resources and try as many times as it takes… But me, I'll never…_

As Lucy looked into window Natsu's words popped up in her mind _'Lucy, I think I need to talk to your old man. Someone has to tell him that he's just a pathetic human, who now stood on the edge of oblivion. His money won't help him…'_

"No!" Lucy exclaimed, talking to herself, "I had to deal with it myself!"

* * *

September 4, X784, 12:05 PM, Fairy Tail construction site.

"Hey you!" Erza shouted as she saw Max sitting on the stockpile of girders, "Stop slacking and get back to work!" She was dressed into a construction garb and now she carried a large wooden girder.

"But Erza! I sat down just a moment ago, let me rest at least a minute!" Max pleaded her.

"Oh, sorry… do you need anything else? A pillow? Or maybe a blanket?" Erza asked, glaring at him as only Erza could glare.

"No ma'am! I had to work, ma'am!" Max hopped off from stockpile, grabbed one girder and ran away.

Since rune knights' departure, Natsu started to disappear each day for several hours, and he refused to tell Erza what's he doing, telling her that this is a surprise, but if everything will go as planned – she'll be very proud of him.

Erza, however, didn't like surprises, and, since Natsu held his ground, refusing to tell her what he wants to do – she was constantly wrought-up. However, there was another reason for Erza's bad mood, and it was…

"Hey, Mira-chan! Let's take a break and go on a date?!" Wakaba asked, sending her a hearts made of smoke.

Boom! Gaining a hard kick by leather platform boot, Wakaba was sent crashing into Macao, and they both smashed into wooden figure that Laki just made to decorate a new guildhall. "You already has a wife, you, would-be Casanova!" Goth girl said with narrowed eyes "Damn… I dreamed of it for three years…"

"She completely reverted to her old self…" Elfman gulped.

Not everyone yet adapted to the fact that cute, caring Mira is no more and she-devil Mirajane has returned. Right now goth girl was walking around construction site with salver, working out her last day as a barmaid. From tomorrow she's again going to take missions as a mage.

"Damn, what are we gonna do without barmaid?" Max scratched his head.

"It is better to engage in self-service than have someone like she as a waitress!" Wakaba exclaimed indignantly, rubbing his butt.

On the other side of the construction site, Erza and Gray were unloading the freight wagon with girders that just arrived. "Erza, where's Natsu? I think we could use some help…" Gray said, picking up another girder.

"I don't know…" Erza grunted resentfully. "But this mysteriousness, he shrouded himself with, is making on my nerves…"

"Please, sweetie, be patient," Natsu's voice sounded from behind as god slayer appeared from the entrance. "You will know in two days, I swear, you'll be the first to know," He said, taking off his coat.

"I don't like surprises…" Erza mumbled as her sight became chained to Natsu's muscular chest – as usual, Natsu didn't wear shirt so now he was naked to the waist.

"I'm sure you will like this one, I worked hard to arrange it," Natsu replied as he hung his coat on sticking girder. "Okay, what you need my help with?" He asked, stretching his limbs.

"This wagon with girders just arrived, we need to unload it," Gray pointed at freight wagon.

"Okay, stay back" Natsu extended his arms and used his telekinetic power to lift all girders at once. Weight was big so Natsu's muscles were strained, his back become a bit wet…

"Erza!" Scornful voice returned her on the ground "He's at your disposal each night, so can you please stop drooling and get back to work?" Mirajane asked with insolent smile.

"Fuck you!" Erza replied, wiping off her saliva.

* * *

Few minutes later…

"By the way, isn't it kind of big?" Warren asked, observing the scaffoldings.

"While we're at it, we're expanding! It'll be a _manly_ guild from now on!" Elfman stated proudly. "See? Here's what it'll look like when it's finished," He added, showing the 'blueprints'.

"Really?" Max asked.

"Let's have a look" Warren too looked at piece of paper.

"Do we really have to change anything?" Erza mumbled, also looking at drawings. With her banquette already planned for the old layout, she'd prefer to leave it as it was.

"I was always telling that we need more modern design," Natsu too decided to take a look.

"What kind of guild is it going to be like?" Gray also came to look at it.

All five were staring at weird conglomeration of pointers, stairs, rooms… and bats.

"And how the hell should I understand this?" Erza asked, she didn't get at least where is the top and where is the bottom of this picture…

"And they call _me_ an avant-garde lover?" Natsu scratched his head, he too didn't understand anything.

"But man, this is really crappy. What idiot drew this?" Gray blurted out, staring at drawing, "…KYA!" Ice mage yelped and jumped up as he suddenly got a very harsh slap on his butt. "Who the fu…?!" Gray yelled angrily, turning around, only to see Mirajane, engulfed with dark aura.

"That's for calling me an idiot," She said with narrowed eyes.

Max and Warren disappeared. Erza and Natsu was still here, a bit confused, _'Did he just yelped?'_ They both thought.

"Mira-san?! It was you?!" Gray exclaimed, rubbing his ass, "Ouch… couldn't you at least just kick me, like you did with the others?!"

"No" she replied, "Oh!" Mirajane 'accidentally' dropped the pen so she turned around and leaned down to pick it up.

Blood sprinkled from Gray's nose as steam busted out from his ears and there's no ice cold enough in this world to cool Gray down right now.

"Purple elephants?" Erza asked, to Mira's mishap Gray wasn't the only one who saw this little demonstration "Who could imagine that goth girl wore white panties with purple elephants…" Erza laughed at her rival.

"Look who's talking…" Natsu sighed, "Shall I remind you about your socks?"

"Hey! I never tried to look like goth queen so I do not shy that!" Erza exclaimed, blushing a little, it was a lie.

…

**Flashback. Natsu and Erza's second date.**

Natsu was telling Erza about one of his crazy adventures from the past. Enamored girl was fascinated by Natsu's ability to turn any adventure into crazy one. She walked looking at Natsu and not looking where she was going, so finally she stumbled at drainage grate. Natsu managed to catch her, preventing her from falling, but her boot remained clamped between grate and pavement.

"Pink socks…" Natsu smiled, "How cute…", He was looking at pink sock with white teddy bears, "Who could imagine that Titania Erza wore pink socks, so girlish…"

"Hey! I am a girlie!" She replied, smiling and flushing heavily, as she urgently put her boot back on her foot. Actually, her girlish side was well hidden…

"I know…" Natsu smiled, as he kissed the tip of her head and took her hand. Long before this date he knew that, despite her spikes, this scarlet rose is very vulnerable and inside she's a girl, and she too likes jewelry and other girlish stuff…

**Flashback end.**

…

"I love you…" Erza whispered, releasing Natsu's lips.

"I know," Natsu smiled, pressing her to himself.

* * *

September 4, X784, 2:00 PM, Fairy Tail construction site.

"People, don't you think it's time for a launch?" Erza asked. She could be called a workaholic sometimes, but also dragon slayer possessed very healthy dragon appetite.

"Hmm… Now that you mentioned it… I could use a bite to eat as well…" Gray noted, didn't noticing Juvia, who was hiding behind the stockpile of false panels for about an hour, stalking him. "Ffsshhuuhh!" Someone dashed beside Gray with whistle, leaving a launch box in his hands and freaking him out, "HUH?!"

"Do you felt/heard it?!" Natsu and Erza asked each other simultaneously, turning around. "We're under attack?!" Crimson mist engulfed Natsu's body as streams of plasma started to swirl around Erza.

"Calm down you two!" Sin exclaimed, he was sitting on Mirajane's shoulder, who was heading their way. Last day waitress brought some food to Natsu's team. "You two became paranoid…" Sin shook his boney skull.

"Whoa! This is a **bentō!** [Roughly: Lunchbox]" Natsu exclaimed, eyeing yhe box in Gray's hands. "C'mon man, unpack it and let's eat!"

"No can do man! I can't eat something if I don't know where it came from!" Gray retorted to eat.

Behind the stockpile of false panels, Juvia became upset and cried, because Gray retorted to eat **bentō** that she made for him, _'Juvia feels dejected… Juvia got up so early just to make it for him…'_

"Well, but _we can_ eat it!" Natsu stated as Erza snatched the **bentō** from Gray's hands.

Titania sniffed it, "It's fine" dragon slayer declared as she and Natsu tore it in half and devoured by one bite.

"Take this one Gray, it's from our field kitchen" Mira handed over a served food portion. "So you don't need you portions?" She asked, turning to slayers.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Two voices replied as one as they grabbed the dishes.

"You two are not bad at eating…" Gray shook his head.

"Hmm… It's my imagination or his portion served better than others?" Sin asked, pointing at Gray.

"It's your imagination," Mira replied, heading back to the kitchen and pushing little boney creature off from her shoulder.

"I don't believe you," Sin said, as he sat on her other shoulder.

"Sin, go find yourself a deal…" Mira snorted.

"Hey guys…" Loke's voice called from entrance. "Hey… do you mind passing this on to Lucy for me?" He looked bad, as if he was very, very tired…

"Lucy's keys?" Natsu asked, "Oh, right, she lost them again…"

"Where've you been all this time?!" Gray asked as he remembered that he didn't see Loke since battle with phantom. "Wait… don't tell me… you've been searching for these things this entire time?!"

"Uh… well… what can I say… being a gentleman isn't as easy as it looks…" Loke replied nervously.

"Loke, are you okay?" Erza asked, "You look bad and smell weird… more weird than usual I mean…"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking…" He replied, "Just tired…"

"That time is draws near, is it?" Natsu asked with some pity on his face…

"Ugh… what you mean?..." Loke asked nervously but suddenly Natsu decided to change subject:

"By the way, where's that weepie?" God slayer inquired, looking around.

"Still at home I think, she was injured during the battle," Gray replied.

"We all were injured, but we're here while she's the only one at home…" Natsu said with suspicions, "I think it's time to check the actual state of her 'wounds'."

"You wanna visit her?" Erza asked.

"No, I want an additional pair of hands on the construction yard," Natsu replied, putting on his coat, "Wanna go with me, Loke?"

"Need I remind you about my syndrome of hypersensitiveness to stellar spirit mages?" Loke asked.

"Need I remind you that such a thing does not exist? In Fiore we calls this syndrome a 'cowardice'…" Natsu replied as his voice sounded surprisingly scornfully.

"Natsu, stop it!" Erza scolded him, however, she didn't understand what he actually meant.

"Sorry, sweetheart, I was a bit carried away," Natsu smiled, embracing his beloved. "Okay, I'm off to Lucy's place"

"_We_ off to Lucy's place, you wanted to say," Erza corrected him.

"Hmm? You wanna go too?" Natsu wondered.

"Of course I do, she's my maid of honor, after all. Besides, you're too agitated today, I've to make sure you won't go too far by 'checking her wounds' and not try to give her a gyno exam or something…" Erza replied before whispering to her beloved, "…however, you can give it to me instead…"

"Guaaah!" Loke yelped as he obviously heard too much.

"Don't be a downer, Loke…" Natsu waved him off, "By the way, where's Gray?" God slayer noticed that Gray was nowhere to be found.

"Took the keys and left" Loke replied, "I think he went to visit Lucy"

"What?!"

"Hey!"

* * *

September 4, X784, 2:55 PM, Lucy's house.

"Hmm… Nobody here…" Gray said as he and Sin climbed into Lucy's house through window. The rooms were neat and clean, bed were made and food was cleaned. "Hmm… looks like she's not at home… Natsu won't like it."

'Clank' door lock tinkled. "Speak of the devil…" Sin mumbled. Moment later Erza and Natsu barged into the room. However, before any of them could open mouth, boney creature said, "Sorry, but I had to leave you behind – you two were too busy deciding the better way to mutilate Lucy – physically or mentally." It seems Sin heard the talking and picked up Gray to carry him here.

"Wait until I lay my hands on you!" Erza replied and headed to boney dragon.

"Guys, calm down please, Lucy's not here anyway," Gray said. He and Sin already checked entire house, even bath.

"She must've stepped out for a bit…" Erza guessed as Sin tried to work himself out from her grip. Suddenly she released him, he collapsed into ambry, and second later boney creature was pressed to the floor by dozens of thick letters.

"Wow, she has an active correspondence…" Gray noted.

"Not really, they all outgoing" Sin said as he quickly unpacked one of the letters and read aloud, "Mom, I've finally managed to accomplish my life-long dream of becoming a member of Fairy Tail…"

"Life-long dream?" Natsu raised an eyebrow, "We were that hard to find so she required me to lead her to the guild?"

"Hey, why don't you try to respect her privacy?" Gray asked as Sin continued to read.

"Mom, today I met this girl, Erza! She's unbelievable pretty and as crazy as Natsu…" Erza let out a grunt "…I never saw anything like that! They moved in perfect unison, never saw people who fit each other so perfectly…"

"Sin, enough!" Natsu ordered but boney creature already stopped, as he examined the titles of others letters. "Dear mom… Dear mom… Dear mom…"

"These letters… They're all addressed to her mother?" Gray wondered, "I wonder why she never sent 'em?"

"It's hard to deliver something into the afterlife" Natsu shrugged.

"What?!"Three voices asked simultaneously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Natsu asked, waving his arm around the room, "There's many photos of her mother – she really loved her – but they all are more than five years old, look at dates. Besides, she never mentioned her, even casually, unlike father. Moreover, she behaves awkwardly with opposite gender – the clear sign of a girl who remained in the care of her father before puberty."

"And you call it obvious?!" Gray asked indignantly.

"Poor thing…" Erza sighed with pity, "It was hard for her I guess…"

"Oh, so for you it easy?" Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"Of course!" Erza replied proudly, "I always could take care of myself!"

"Really? Come on then, tell us about your solo maturing. Tell us how you handled your first menses, for example…" Natsu smiled evilly, "Though, I can guess how it was…"

"Don't you dare!" Fearless Erza paled from horror as she dashed to Natsu to shut his mouth while he started to run from her.

"Gah! I don't need to hear it!" Gray exclaimed, closing his ears.

"Considering your luck it was in the middle of the day, probably during mission, in public place…" Natsu spoke, running around the room.

"Natsu shut up or I'll cancel our wedding!" Erza still chased him.

"I can't understand it… the more he tease her… the hotter her passion toward him…" Sin scratched his skull, thinking that Erza is actually a hardcore masochist…

"Guys!" Gray yelled loudly, stopping the love game. "Lucy left behind a note…" He said with strangely mournful voice, showing Lucy's note to the others. The note says 'I will go home…'

"What?! Why?!"

"Don't tell me she decided to return home and sacrifice her future to protect us from her father?!" Erza exclaimed indignantly. Her opinion about self-sacrificing changed drastically during last few years.

"Yeah, she went home and left behind her underwear to decorate our guild," Natsu said as he opened the dresser drawer, full of kinky underwear. "It's not the kind of stuff you can left to carrier, don't run to conclusions."

"Yep, her novel is still here," Sin looked inside the desk.

"She's writing a novel?" Erza wondered.

"Ops…" Sin gulped.

"It doesn't matter now, sweetheart, I think our cute blonde grew up some guts and decided to kick her father's ass herself!" Natsu guessed, "Brave decision Lucy, I give you that…"

"Then we have to back her up!" Gray exclaimed, "Who knows what he's capable of?!"

"Agree!" Erza shouted, "Come on!"

* * *

September 4, X784, 8:19 PM, Heartfilia's manor.

Lucy stood in front of her mother's grave with the bouquet of flowers. Surprisingly, but nor Natsu neither Erza were right about the Lucy's decision – there were no fighting and no self-sacrificing. Lucy just talked to her father, it was not a friendly talk, however. She expressed her opinion about his intention to marry her off some fat goof from south and warned him about consequences if he won't stop his assaults on Fairy Tail.

"Okay mom…" Lucy smiled to tombstone, "I have to go home, don't want to make others worry about me…"

"LUCY!" Four voices called for her from behind, freaking her out as she saw Natsu, Erza, Gary and Sin rushing toward her.

"Wha…Why?!" She yelped in shock.

"Lucy! You did it?! Your father is defeated?!" Natsu asked, readying his magic.

"You sure you took out all of his body guards?!" Erza inquired, ex-equipping her combat outfit.

"Do you need any help?!" Gray exclaimed.

With her natural smile Lucy explained that she came here just to dot all the 'i's and cross all the 't's, and to visit her mom's grave.

"So… I was… wrong…?" Natsu was stunned.

"Don't tell me I endured that four-hour torment in train just for that?!" Erza exclaimed indignantly.

Gray just stood silently, shocked.

"I just passed your words to him…" Lucy explained with smile. "That each one should walk his own path…" Lucy nodded to Erza, "…that Fairy Tail's sorceresses marry only for love…" She looked at Gray, "…and that he's standing on the edge of oblivion."

"Natsu!" Erza scolded her boyfriend.

Lucy gave her friends a quick tour of her family's manor, said goodbye to the home staff, which she likes, and all five headed toward train station.

"Sorry to worry you guys!" Lucy exclaimed in apologizing tone.

"Sheesh, I got all anxious over nothing!" Gray shook his head.

"I told you everything well be oaky," Natsu noted.

"You were swinging your sword all the way, inventing a sadistic ways to end her father's life," Sin noted sarcastically.

"Really Natsu, you're too agitated today…" Erza shook her head.

"…And you was out cold completely since we boarded the train," Sin said to Erza, dodging her fist.

"Man…" Gray said, looking around, "Gotta say this city is huge…"

"Ah… well… actually, this is just our garden…" Lucy said casually, smiling, "My family owns all the land up to those mountains!" Lucy pointed at mountain that was about twenty – kilometers away. "Huh? What's wrong?" she asking as her teem froze like paralyzed.

"Your excellency!" Sin saluted to Lucy.

"It is an honor to know someone so humble!" Gray saluted as well.

"The skies… they are so blue…" Erza mumbled, looking at the roof of heaven.

"Lucy," Natsu placed his hand on her shoulder, "I think we should go back and talk to your father one more time. You're his only heiress, right?"

"Natsu, stop it!" Erza scolded him again.

"Oh, right, I didn't finish my tale about your first period!" He exclaimed, running away from her.

"Natsu!" She rushed to chase him.

"What a crazy pair…" Gray shook his head.

"Gray, your clothes…" Sin noted as Gray suddenly appeared only in his boxers.

"Guah! How!" Gray yelped in panic.

'_Mom…'_ Lucy thought, shedding tears of joy, _'…these people are absolutely crazy… but I can't imagine my future without them…'_

* * *

September 6, X784, 10:12 AM, National Council Fiore Branch

The trial of Fairy Tail started at early morning and took about four hours. Makarov had a good sleep during the process, irritating every councilor by his behavior. Yet, everything turned very fortunate for Fairy Tail.

Makarov was sitting at bench with councilor Yajima.

"Phantom Lord has been disbanded, and Jose has been stripped of his place among Ten Wizards Saints…" Makarov said, talking to his old friend, "…So far, that's as I expected. But to judge Fairy Tail as completely 'Innocent?' I wouldn't have expected that…"

"You should be grateful, Macky my lad," Yajima noted, "I argued on your behalf, you know…"

"I'm in your debt, Yaji-san." Makarov nodded, "When the guild's fixed up, come over for a visit. I'll treat you to some ramen"

"Fairy Ramen is it?" Yajima asked, "I'll thank you to put twelve slices of meat on top then."

"Isn't 12 slices a bit much?" Makarov raised an eyebrow.

"Remember you violated the ban on inter-guild conflict in Paragraph Four!" Yajima reminded Makarov about the case.

"Fine! I'll give 20 or even 30 slices if you want!" Makarov exclaimed, frustrated by blackmailing.

"Twelve slices will do just fine, thank you very much." Yajima replied, "And I want Natsu to prepare it for me."

"What?! Natsu? Why?" Makarov asked in surprise.

"Because he's the excellent chef," Yajima replied as it was quite obvious.

"Really?!" Makarov almost fell from the bench.

"Makcy… you don't know what your own mages capable of?" Yajima asked.

"With this sneaky pink-haired… oh, okay. I'll pass your request to him. You really dug me out of a hole this time…" Makarov sighed, wondering where and when Yajima had a chance to taste Natsu's cooking, anyway.

"Macky, my lad, don't go overboard again…" Yajima said calmly. "Lately many people are of the opinion that Fairy Tail is debauching far too much far too often. "Just between you and me, Michello and Org filled a guild disbandment request. If you carry on at this rate, they'll levy you with massive sanctions." Yajima let out a deep sight, "Macky, we are no longer young. You should just hurry up and retire. How much more are you willing to put that body of yours through…?"

His old friend's speech put Makarov into deep thoughtfulness.

* * *

September 6, X784, 10:30 AM, Fairy Tail construction site.

"All right, listen up people! Starting today, we've resumed accepting work requests! It's only a temporal request board, but hell, it makes no difference, so put your sorry asses into it, now!" Voice of snow-haired goth girl sounded throughout the construction site.

As entire crowd of Fairy Tail mages rushed to request board, filled with enthusiasm (or with fear of she-devil's wrath), Lucy turned around to see Mirajane, a bit surprised by her choice of words. "Mira…SAN!?" Lucy yelped and fell from her stool.

"Careful, Lucy, you just recovered," Goth girl said, grabbing Lucy by collar and placing her bask on stool singlehandedly, "What's the matter?"

"M…Mira-san?!" Lucy exclaimed, looking at her idol with saucer-wide eyes. Today was the first day Lucy came to the guild after the battle, and it was first time when she saw Mirajane's new appearance. "What happened with you?!"

"Ah, yea, I probably had to tell you earlier," Sin said as he landed on the counter near Lucy, "Actually this is real Mirajane, once known as a 'Devil'," Sin explained.

"I'll regain my right on this nickname soon enough Sin, trust me," She pointed at Sin as if challenging him.

"Ok… okay…" Lucy was still in shock, "Okay… but, well… can I have a tea?" She asked, she had to drink something to calm down a bit.

"Why not?" Silver-haired goth girl shrugged, "Everything you need is there" She waved toward the bar counter.

"Huh?" Lucy's eyes widened even more.

"Lucy, I'm no longer a barmaid, wipe your eyes already!" Mirajane snorted.

"Ok… okay…" Lucy stuttered, heading to the bar counter, she was a bit entranced. "But… but what tea I should use? The one that always could calm me down?"

"Whiskey," Mirajane replied simply.

"Huh?" Lucy wondered.

"I constantly was mixing whiskey into your tea to make it 'calming', as you called it" Goth girl explained, making Lucy pale as Mira sat on bar.

"I take it back Mira, you never had lost your right on your nickname – even without magic you was a demon," Sin smiled as Mira gave him a high five.

"You… you wanna say…" Lucy stuttered, "This warm feeling I usually got after that tea… because I was… drunk?!"

"Don't be silly Lucy, it was just to warm you up a little, no one can become drunk from 50 grams of whiskey… well, except for Erza, of course" Sin waved Lucy off as Mira gave him another high five.

Lucy slammed her head into the bar _'Oh, for god sakes… Is it a requirement to be a crazy perverted bitch or crazy psycho to become an S-class mage of this guild?!' _Image of her idol, of the perfect Mira-san had been utterly shattered, incinerated, obliterated and sent to oblivion. "Sin…" Lucy asked with her forehead still on the bar counter, mostly to not look at goth girl, "Do you know where Loke is?"

"Oh, Lucy, don't tell me you too fell for pseudo-charms of this sorry womanizer…" Mira narrowed her eyes.

"That's not it!" Lucy retorted resentfully, "I just heard that he found my keys, so I wanted to thank him" Lucy showed the bunch of keys.

"Well, just hang around a little, I'm sure he'll shows up sooner or later…" Mirajane yawned. "Oh, by the way, I hope you received a proper punishment from your spirits for losing your keys?"

"Oh, it wasn't anything enough for them to get that mad about…" Lucy let out a nervous laugh as she remembered her last interaction with Aquarius:

"_I thought I told you, NOT to lose them again, little girl…" Water bearer shouted angrily, rising up the cane, "…Didn't I!?"_

"Just remembering that makes my butt sting…" Lucy moaned, slamming her head into the bar again.

"Want me to cool it down for you?" Gray asked from behind, building his ice magic.

"I don't need innuendo-style sexual harassment" Lucy replied with closed eyes.

"I think it needs to be checked out, Lucy, let me take a look at your bright red ass," Sin smirked.

"And no overt sexual harassment either!" Lucy was freaked out a bit.

"Hmm, I'm wondering, if I'll add a few more strokes, how would your screams will sound like?" Mirajane asked with malicious smile.

"And you truly are devil!" Lucy yelled in shock.

Boom! A wooden barrel struck Mirajane, knocking her from the bar, where she sat legs crossed. "Who the fuck…!" She devil growled.

"You trying to say that one more time!" Erza's angry voice drew everyone's attention.

"Erza?" Lucy wondered. Dragon slayer stood with her combat outfit equipped and with dark aura around her. She was glaring at Laxus.

"I'll spell it out for you just once" Laxus replied with insolent smile, "We don't need weaklings in this guild!"

"Bastard…" Erza growled. Yes, she knew that Natsu's opinion is a bit similar to Laxus', but god slayer kept it to himself, he didn't insult anyone.

"Being looked down on by the likes of Phantom… I'm so ashamed that I can't show my face on the street!" Laxus continued to expatiate.

"Laxus… mindless brute…" Mira growled, she even forgot about barrel.

"That asshole starts shooting his mouth off as soon as he gets back…" Gray grunted.

"S-class Laxus…" Lucy whispered.

"You guys are the problem! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Laxus pointed at team Shadow Gear. "I heard Gajeel smacked you guys around pretty easily, am I wrong?" Because of Laxus' harsh words team Shadow Gear's faces became gloomy. "Come to think of it, I don't even know your names. Who the hell are you?! You're pathetic!"

"Enough Laxus, no one here is interested in your opinion!" Natsu decided to intervene. He chose neutral words however, god slayer thought that slight shake up can help some lazy guild members to become more active.

"Oh, look who's talking…" Laxus smiled evilly, "Tell me, god of war, do _you_ know their names?"

Natsu twitched, blonde guy hit the sore spot. "Um, well…" Natsu stuttered as he became the center of attention, "… all right, the girl's name is Levy!" God slayer finally spoke out – however, Levy was the only one whose name Natsu knew. Both Erza and Mira face-palmed as faces of Levy's team members became even gloomier.

"AHAHAHA!" Laxus laughed, "It's hard to express some idea if you actually do not believe into it yourself, right, Natsu?!"

"Can't you just shut you fucking mouth, Laxus!?" Mara yelled angrily.

"Uhh… Look who grew out some teeth again …" Laxus again smiled maliciously as he stood up from his bench. "When I take over this guild, I'll crush all the weaklings!" Laxus again laughed, "And I'll kick out of here all who stands against me, so I suggest to choose words carefully, all three of you!" He turned around and headed toward yard's exit. "I'll make the ultimate guild! The strongest guild in history that no one can look down upon!" With loud laugh, Laxus vanished from sight.

"No help from you…" Erza smiled, burying her face in Natsu's chest, she knew it's not his fault – he's really terrible with names. Natsu stood clenching his left fist – Laxus won this round…

"I hate him…" Mirajane growled as she returned to the bar counter.

"'Take over the guild'? What nonsense was he spouting?..." Lucy asked as everything calmed down a bit.

"It's not as crazy as it sounds…" Sin replied.

"Hmm?" Lucy wondered.

"Laxus is actually the master's grandson…" Mirajane explained.

"WHAAAT?!" Lucy was freaked out again.

"There's a good chance that Laxus going to be the one calling the shots here once our current master decides to call it quits…" Goth girl said.

"No… way…" Lucy stuttered. "But… I don't think that's right… for a guy who thinks so little of his comrades to become a master, I mean…" Lucy expressed her opinion.

"The rumors has it, that's why the master been putting off his retirement…" Sin noted.

"Because he's waiting for the guy to clean up his acts?" Lucy asked.

"It's just a rumors floating around. The fact is, master himself hasn't uttered a single word to us about his successor," Silver-haired girl replied. "Oh, never mind that Lucy. I'm going on the mission, would you mind to keep me a company?"

"Ieeeh!?" Lucy yelped.

"Elfman went to Harujeon, he's escorting construction materials for our guild, and I won't mind a company on my first mission," She-devil said as she turned to Ice Mage. "Gray, do you wanna join us?"

"Who?! Me?!" Gray jumped from surprise.

"Do you see another Gray here?" Mira asked acidly. "I heard you two getting along well, so it should be piece a cake, let's go!" Goth girl announced, dragging Lucy and Gray along, despite they never actually agreed to go with her, "Master is counting on us!"

"Shall we save them?" Erza asked, looking as her rival just enslaved Gray and Lucy. Gray can say whatever he wants but it's hard for him to say 'no' to a woman, to the one he's afraid of, at least. And for Lucy it's hard to say 'no'… well, to anyone.

"Nah, she need a bit of help to quickly jump back in the saddle" Natsu replied, "These two will do just fine, they're reliable and worked well together."

"How about you then? Up for some work?" Erza smiled to her beloved.

"Of course, our guild need money," Natsu kissed her forehead, "Have something on your mind?"

"Yep," She pulled out a request list, "We're going to fight the secret religious sect of mages in the castle town of Lupinus"

"Hmm… secret sect… my favorite…" Natsu smiled, "I love you…"

"I know" She replied, pressing herself to his chest. She chose this mission for him, no doubts. "C'mon Sin, we got a job"

"Yes ma'am!" Sin replied, looks like he too was tired of sitting here.

* * *

September 6, X784, 10:45 PM, Fairy Tail construction site.

The moon had already risen as Master Makarov was sitting upon the guild wall currently under construction. Drinking booze and looking at the construction site, he was thinking about the future.

'_Retirement, huh? The guild gotten a new start, I guess it would be fitting for a new master to lead them into the next generation…'_ Makarov started to think of candidates.

'_Laxus… his heart isn't in the right place…'_

'_Mystogan… that guy is the walking definition of lack of communications…'_

'_Gildarts… well, it's hard to call him the one who belongs to a new generation…'_

'_Mirajane… she's a bit unstable, besides, her tastes…'_ Makarov imagined a guild building shaped like 'Castle "Gray Skull"', _'…no, definitely not.'_

'_And if that's the case… I have Natsu and Erza… Natsu's a bit too young, but that sneaky pink-haired scoundrel is clever, he already has good connections to higher-ups, so he can keep council fools away from guild, and he definitely capable of taking care of finances… But no one can say what's he has on his mind…_

_But there's Erza… She's very smart too and she can keep Natsu from too harsh changes of guild's orders. She's a bit straightforward and naïve, but he can compensate that… Together they won't get lost…_

_Hmm… if I'll decide to retire… this actually may work… which one of this two I should chose then?...'_

"I'm sorry, Makarov-san?" Someone called for him from beneath.

"Hmm?" Makarov looked down to see a frog-like council messenger with stack of papers and his innards grew cold.

"Sorry to disturb you, but there was an incident in castle town of Lupinus" Frog said as Makarov became pale. "The town was completely demolished. The witnesses described the culprits as 'young man and woman, capable of breathing magic from their mouths; they had strange glowing tattoos on man's shoulder and woman's shoulder blade;' also, according to witnesses, both were wearing Fairy Tail guild crests. The council has requested you to a written explanation immediately…" Makarov's body turned into white dust that was blown away by wind. "Makarov-san, are you okay?"

"AS IF I CAN ACTUALLY ENTRUST SOMETHING TO THESE TWO!" Makarov vowed into the night as his body was restored, "RETIRE?! NO FREAKING WAY!"

* * *

September 6, X784, 11:00 PM, Natsu and Erza's house.

Erza came to the window and looked at stars, taking a deep breath of fresh night air, filled with starlight. Natsu came closer and embraced her from behind, making her to let out a sweet moan. "I'm happy, Natsu…" she said silently.

"I'm happy to hear it," He whispered in response.

"No, I mean… we destroyed an entire city, got no money for job and tomorrow master gonna skin us alive… but I have no grief because of it, I'm absolutely happy…" She explained herself, turning around, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing wrong with you… well, I mean, everything is wrong with you, but this is why I love you so much…" Natsu lifted her by armpits, letting her to wrap her legs around his waist. "We are the same, you too like to destroy everything left and right, and finally you stopped fighting with it…"

"Master gonna kill us one day…" Erza smiled.

"Then we'll gonna chase him as ghosts to the end of his days…" Natsu replied, causing her to giggle happily.

* * *

September 7, X784, 9:15 AM, Same place.

"Erza, my love, wake up…" Natsu said softly, leaning over his bride.

"Mmmm…" She moaned sweetly "…it's too early… come back… let's sleep a bit more…" She mumbled sleepily and tried to drag Natsu back in bed.

"Open your eyes, honey…" Natsu asked softly, "…the messenger just left, he brought the documents and the 'thing' I want to show you… the surprise…"

"All right…" She sighed, slowly opening her eyes and looking at Natsu. He was dressed into his usual clothes, with one little addition. It was a relatively big, about 3 inches in radius, pendant made of pure gold. It was decorated by platinum cross that lay upon two circles with four heart-like figures and some ornament, everything made of platinum. It was very expensive custom work, but no doubts – that pendant means that his owner is the one of the Ten Wizards Saints.

Erza's still sleeping mind required some time to process the information while she was staring at pendant, clapping her eyes.

"So? Does it suits me?" He asked with smile.

"When? How? I mean, what is it?!" Just-awake girl mumbled.

"Jose was stripped of his title, so his position became free. That position had to be mine eleven months ago, but that azure-haired bastard made them to choose him! Damn, I was so infuriated, I was in magazines more times than he! But he used the chairman's absence and his position in council to make the other councilors think that 'my behavior is inappropriate for such a honorific position,' can you believe it?! Although that few years ago they chose that downer Jura Neekis from Lumia Scale, despite he's too modest to be a Wizard Saint! I'm so cooler than he! He was in magazine only twice, and never on the centerfold! Anyway, this time I used all my connections to make sure they won't listen to that worm Sieg and will judge me by my powers and fame, not by some insignificant incidents with my involvement," Natsu explained with passion. By the way, Erza was the only being in the universe for whom Natsu could express his feelings so sincerely.

While Natsu was speaking, Erza was moving her sight from his face to pendant and back as entranced. She tried to understand what it means for her. For Natsu it was just another way of show off. But for Erza that means that council itself recognized Natsu's power as comparable to power of _hateful azure-haired man_. And that means that if she and Natsu will be against _him_ together – his number goes up for sure! _'Moreover,'_ Erza smiled to herself, _'Sieg was 18 when he became a Wizard Saint, but Natsu still 17!'_ But then she remembered something else, as her smile faded a little._ 'And I'm already 19…'_ Their age difference was a bit of sore spot._ 'Erza, you foolish girl, stop seeking the bad sides, who cares about your age difference?!'_ She mentally shouted at herself, before looking at Natsu lustfully.

"Take these clothes off!" She demanded, dragging Natsu in bed, "Leave only pendant. I'm going to have some fun with one of the Ten Wizards Saints! Lot of Fun!" Her eyes had very hungry expression…

* * *

September 7, X784, 12:50 PM, Fairy Tail construction site.

News about Natsu being installed as one of Ten Wizards Saints spread through guild like wildfire, mostly because he wore his pendant over the coat, so everyone could see it. Yes, they knew that Natsu wasn't the only candidate for this title, even In Fairy Tail were other mages worthy of this position – Gildarts definitely stronger, for example… but, who knows where he is? Also, Laxus and Mystogan were worth of this title, but Laxus is well known asshole, who probably doesn't care about titles, and Mystogan is masked guy unknown to everyone – no one need such a people among the ranks of Wizard Saints. And there's Erza, of course, but it seems she prefer another ways of show off. Mira was just back from retirement. So, after some thinking, Natsu appeared to be the only viable candidate as his ascendance to the ranks started to look quite logical. In the end – it's only natural that one of strongest mages of strongest guild became Wizard Saint.

"How was your job, Lucy?" Natsu asked as blonde sat near him, staring into space. "Hey! Lucy! Are you hear me?" Natsu raised his voice. He tried to talk with Lucy while Erza was arguing with Mirajane about something, like in the old days.

"Um? Oh, sorry, I'm just thinking…" She replied. "It was quite fine, actually. Mira and Gray got along well, so… no problems…" Lucy said absentmindedly. Actually, that pendant, which Natsu wore now, shook her world slightly. Okay, she knew that he's strong, but one of strongest ten?! He's only nine months older than she, and he's one of the Ten Wizards Saints while she is… no one…

"Lucy," Natsu called for her again, "What's wrong?"

"No, it's all right, it's just…" She tried to find some words, which won't make her look like silly little girl, but Natsu already understood the matter by himself.

"Lucy, what gifts your parents presented to you at your fourth birthday?" Natsu asked, but continued without waiting for answer. "Okay, you probably do not remember. Well, I do. At my fourth birthday mother presented me, among common stuff, magic boots. These boots, by the way," Natsu pointed at his feet. "They're magical – made of basilisk skin, always fresh and new, always perfectly fit my legs, even can change fashion according to my preferences, no idea who she forced to make them for me… ah, no matter. However, it was not inside colored box with ribbon, which I could just untie and take the gift. It was in cave, guarded by demon, which I had to subdue to take my gift... well, not demon, mere imp, but... No, mother embraced me warmly and kissed me of course… after I proved myself worthy by defeating the demon…"

Lucy listened to this story with saucer-wide eyes _'Demon?! For four year old kid?! Okay, this explains a lot… Yet, he loves his mother… Okay, as it says: a stranger's heart is a deep well – it's too dark there to see well…'_ The point of this story was clear – do not compare yourself with the one who defeated his first demon when he was four years old.

"Damn…" Natsu said, looking at construction site.

"What's up, Wizard Saint?" Mirajane asked as she sat on bar counter with her legs crossed.

"We still need money to rebuild our guild," Natsu replied, "We need some mission where we won't be carried away like yesterday…"

"Hmm… I think I have just what you need," Mirajane said, pulling out a request list from between her breast.

"Why do you need that pocket-belt?" Natsu wondered.

"For bigger stuff", she replied. "Actually, I'm already intended to go on this mission with Lucy and Gray, but I can take you along, since all reward goes to guild's reconstruction."

"I think you understand that saying 'me' you mean 'us'?" Natsu narrowed his eyes. He shot a glance at Erza, she was nearby, scolding Macao for something.

"If you insist…" Mirajane replied with deadpan. For the sake of her and Natsu's friendship, she tried to be less aggressive toward Erza while he was nearby. "You two can put a nice lightshow so we probably can earn more…"

"Hmm?" Natsu asked.

* * *

September 8, X784, 11:35 AM, Onibas train station.

Town of Onibas was larger than Magnolia, with more thriving business. Natsu and Co. arrived to Onibas with early train.

"I see… so with our magic we'll be landing a hand to a theater of clients who live in this neck of the woods…" Gray smirked. "Interesting kind of mission indeed."

"Yeah, looks like fun, right?" Lucy replied with joyful smile.

"And what did he see in her?" Mirajane mumbled to herself, walking beside Gray. "She's completely pathetic…" She-devil added, looking back at Natsu, who carried Erza in his arms bride-style. She was out cold after five-hour ride on train. No, as it was said, Mira wasn't interested in Natsu even a bit, she just could not come to terms with the fact that Erza is getting married soon while she, Mira, don't has at least boyfriend.

"But Lucy, you have no scenic experience…" Sin noted.

"It's unnecessary Sin, we'll be working completely behind the scenes." Snow-haired girl explained, "If we'd had to be on stage I'd never allowed her to be here," She pointed back, at Erza, "I don't wanna die from shame…"

"Ok, I got it. You need these two for light effects, Gray for molding magic, etc…" Sin guessed.

"Exactly, also I'm gonna sing in duo with Lucy's spirit Lyra," Mira added. "Our reward is the percentage from tickets sales, so we have to put a really good performance."

"Hmm…" Suddenly stars appeared in Lucy's eyes, "And if I write a novel, I could adapt it into a play one day! Yeah! It won't hurt to do some research on productions now!"

"Do some research about magic…" Sin murmured on Mira's ear and she-devil nodded.

* * *

September 8, X784, 11:55 AM, town of Onibas, Scheherazade Theater

"No… more trains…" Erza moaned as she finally woke up.

"Now, this is really big theater!" Lucy whistled as they came closer to client's theater.

As Fairy Tail mages came closer to theater's doors, a little man with purplish hair, dressed into a red-orange suit and dark green pants appeared from beside one of theater's columns. "Excuse me, would you happen to be the people from Fairy Tail?" He asked, "Thank you so much for accepting my request…"

"Yes!" Lucy answered with enthusiastic smile, "Leave the production to us!"

"Ah, about that… we've got a bit of a problem with it…" Rabian said nervously. He escorted his guests to the makeup room end explained the situation with his actors.

"Whaaat?! All of your actor have ran away?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"Yes, thank you so much…" Rabian confirmed.

"Thank us for what?" Mira asked with irony.

"Public performances have a bad reputation, really bad…" Rabian continued his tale, "Before long the actors became embarrassed to appear in my plays too…"

"Unsurprisingly, this scenario is just pathetic…" Natsu noted as he flipped through scenarios for Rabian's last theatricals.

"I gave up my daily job and dived headfirst into that path 30 years ago… My wife stopped loving me for chasing my dream like that, and she left me…" Rabian continued his tearful tale.

"Pathetic woman…" Erza commented, clenching Natsu's mutilated arm.

"This is the only path left for me! Thank you so much!" Rabian cried.

"You really shouldn't be thanking us now…" Gray commented.

"So that's why, even though you went through the trouble to come here, the play had to be discontinued. Thank you very much." Rabian finished his tale.

"Heh… So that's how it is…" Erza said and Natsu immediately felt some kind of trouble because of her enthusiastic face expression. "If you looking for an actor, you have one standing before you!" Erza announced with stars shining around her…

"Wwhhhaaaaatt!" Lucy yelled in shock.

"She's shining!" Gray was freaked out.

"Mother… lend me your aid…" Natsu whispered.

"Natsu, can you help me?" Mira asked, extending her arms and exposing her wrist, as if asking Natsu to open her veins.

"You want to try yourself at acting?" Sin asked, he remained calm.

"You…" Rabian mumbled.

"Hmm… actually, she's right, it might be kinda fun…" Lucy smiled, warming up her hands.

"She's right, we won't let your dream die here…" Gray agreed.

"Natsu, hurry up and kill me," Mira said still smiling.

"No, actually it might work…" Natsu noted, "We still need money, remember?"

"Eh… I guess I'll just leave it in your hands then…" Rabian said surprisingly passionlessly, "Rank amateurs…"

"You're not going to say 'thank you' here…" Gray asked with sweatdrop.

"Okay man, you got it," Natsu stepped forward and clapped Rabian's shoulder, "Get out."

"What?" Little guy asked in surprise.

"Just as you said – you're gonna leave it in our hands" Natsu replied, "We still gonna split the margin 50:50, as we agreed before, but this is my show from now on, get out"

"But… my scenario…" Rabian tried to say something but Natsu pushed him out of the room and closed the door behind him "Thank you so much…"

"Natsu, are you sure about this? Mira asked, eyeing Erza who now was busy with enunciation practice. "This scenario is a horsefeathers…"

"I know," Natsu said, snatching the scenario from Mira's hands and throwing it into a wastebasket. "This is why I said that it's my show from now one. I have a really epic scenario on my mind, also this show will be a Metal Opera."

"Metal opera?!" Erza, Lucy and Gray asked in slight shock.

"Now this is a great idea Natsu!" Mira quickly perked up and stuck out her tongue at Erza, making her to growl. Music was one of many common themes between best friends – Mira likes alternative and gothic metal as Natsu likes epic power, so… On the other hand, Erza didn't find it herself, she don't like heavy music. Natsu was completely okay with it – if he and his wife will be too similar – it won't be fun. But Erza… well, she's too impressionable.

* * *

One hour later…

"Okay people, I ordered everything we need. We have five days, so let's get started," Natsu announced.

"What's on your mind?" Goth girl asked. Since Natsu declared that performance will be in form of metal opera, she was full of enthusiasm.

"Well, I remembered one old legend. It's about god of war and destruction and goddesses of courage. They were in mutual feud and constantly fought against each other, but during twilight of gods they had to join their forces to defeat god of lie and his terrible beast. It's an old epic legend with lots of action and a bit of romance." Natsu described his conception.

"Wow… never thought that you such an artist…" Lucy admitted, she liked Natsu's idea, especially when he said that there'll be a romantic part. _'And there goes another secret… how many of them you still have, Natsu?'_ Blonde thought.

"I need two singers, others will be actors, "Natsu announced.

"Me and Lucy will be the singers!" Mirajane announced.

"Me?! Singer?! I can't sing!" Lucy exclaimed in shock.

"Surely you can, Lucy. You have very nice voice, you just need a little practice, c'mon, I'll help you!" Goth girl said, dragging Lucy into another makeup room.

"No! I can call Lyra to sing, why do you need me?!" Lucy cried.

"Me and Gray will be the bad guys!" Sin announced after brief consultation with Gray. Probably they decided to choose these roles because they relatively small and they can slack a little. However, Natsu anticipated it, also, Sin was perfect for beast's role.

"Which leaves me with the role of goddesses of courage…" Erza smiled to Natsu, "Are you sure about it?"

"Erza, no one can fit this role better than you. You're bravest girl in this world, trust the one who can look into humans souls" Natsu pressed her to himself tightly. "You agreed to live under the same roof with me, isn't it the best confirmation of your courage?"

"You're my cute little fool" Erza giggled at Natsu's comment, "I love you…"

* * *

Two days later…

Everyone was busy with complex rehearsing. Natsu and Erza were practicing their fight scenes, trying to not harm each other and keep the building intact. Lucy and Mira were practicing in singing, Lucy were doing good progress. And Sin and Gray were having fun in Onibas since their roles were relatively small and they had much of free time.

Announces about performance were spread through the whole country. Natsu made sure that three girls will be on the forefront of poster picture, dressed 'properly,' so no one actually cared how exactly this spectacle is named – all tickets for debut performance were sold on the day of the start of sales.

* * *

September 13, X784, 11:55 AM, town of Onibas, Scheherazade Theater

Day of debut performance has come. Everyone and everything were ready. The hall was crowded with the audience. Rabian was one of them. "Oooohhh! My theater never had a crowd of this size! Thank you very much!"

Behind the scenes, team Natsu was preparing for the performance. Lucy was very nervous about singing on stage, so Mira made a tea with spearmint for her.

Erza took the cup and headed to Lucy's makeup room, while Natsu was talking with Mira, Gray and Sin. "Natsu, her singing is very nice, but she's all the nerves…" Mira said worriedly.

"Don't worry, I added a few drops of brandy into her tea, soon she'll calm down a little" Natsu admitted, pointing at the bottle of X.O. Grape brandy (55%), one of the best samples from his collection.

"No!" Mira whispered loudly.

"I had no choice! Besides, you did it many times!" Natsu replied.

"No! I mean I just did it again!" Mirajane pointed at bottle of whiskey.

"Um… guys…" Sin called, pointing at bottle of vodka in Gray's hands, it seems they too were worried about Lucy's nervousness.

Natsu gulped, "Oka-a-ay… how much she drunk then?" After quick calculation it appeared that it wasn't even a tea, it was a big cup of almost pure and strong alcohol with spearmint, whish suppressed alcohol's taste.

"Where did you get all this alcohol at all?!" Sin exclaimed. Lucy's weight is about 45 kg, so with that amount of alcohol…

"Damn. Okay, we have no choice – 7 minutes left! Mira, keep an eye on her during show. And no word about it to Erza…" Natsu said.

Lucy and Erza appeared from Lucy and Mira's makeup room, Natsu looked at blonde – her cheeks already become a bit pink and she was giggling without noticeable reason. "Okay Natsu, I think we're ready" Erza announced, placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder. It seems that, thanks to large amount of spearmint, even dragon's nose didn't noticed the true content of Lucy's cup.

"Ready as I ever been!" Lucy announced with joyful smile. For the performance, she was dressed exactly like Mirajane, who wore her new goth clothes, as usual. "By the way, don't you think it's a bit too hot in here?"

"Okay, it's time!" Natsu announced. He removed his glove and turned Sin into a frost wyrm, no one gonna get suspicious in theater.

Natsu, Erza, Mirajane and Lucy came out to the stage to the applause of the auditory. Natsu and Erza were dressed like ancient god and goddess. Natsu noticed master Makarov, Master Bob, Master Goldmine and Councilor Yujima on the balcony.

"Natsu, ma boy, show them!" Yajima waved to god slayer.

"Erza, good looking!" Goldmine noted.

"Mira, Lucy – your looks are compelling!" Makarov cheered for his girls with hearts in his eyes.

Erza used her ex-equip magic. Scarlet magic seal appeared, and she made two guitars, one bass guitar and drums to appear on stage from her magic space.

"Oooo!" Crowd gasped. "How she did it?"

Natsu raised his arms and made all four instruments play the music via his telekinetic powers.

(Song: Within Temptation - A Demon´s Fate)

"Uuuuu! Look! He's played on all instruments at once!"

While Mira and Lucy were preparing to sing, Erza turned to Natsu "N-nats-su… I d-did-dn't exp-pect-t s-such a h-huge c-crowd-d…" She stuttered.

"What?!" Natsu was shocked, "Don't tell me that you're afraid of large audience?!"

"…_You'll burn this time_

_Seeing the violence_

_It's feeding my mind_

_No one is saving you_

_How can you find_

_A heaven in this hell?..."_

Mira and Lucy started to sing and dance under fast heavy music. Lucy danced especially famously. Trying to match her pace, Mira was forced to copy her movements to make it look synchronized at least a bit. At one moment Lucy dropped the microphone and leaned to pick it up, her back was facing the auditory. Mira made the same move.

"OOOOOOOOOOOO!" Male part of audience shouted with hearts in their eyes. Many thanks to short skirts.

Singers became silent as music continued to play, it was time for Natsu and Erza's scene.

"You're efforts are in vain!" Natsu shouted, cowering himself in crimson light, "Look, even this crimson horizon on my side today!" He turned toward audience and waved his arm, enveloping the audience into crimson mist.

"UUUUUUUUUUU!" Audience shouted. It hard to say – was it because of nice trick with crimson mist, or because Lucy and Mira continued to dance, and Lucy jumped, spreading her legs wide…

"I'll… crush… your… mag-gic, you… selfi… self… sel… se…" Erza was so nervous that she could barely breathe. "Se… se… se.. **Sei****ryū no Hōkō!"** [Star Dragon's Roar] Erza let out concentrated blast of plasma. Erza's breath incinerated Natsu's mist and made a hole in theater's rear wall.

"YYYYYAAAAA!" Whole audience yelped.

"You risking your life just watching this show…" Yajima noted to freaked out Makarov.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Natsu whispered in shock.

"N-no! Ev-vil w-will n-not-t p-prev-vail!" Erza was so nervous that could barely understand where she is and what's she doing.

Mira and Lucy resumed singing.

"OOOOOOOOOOO!" Whole audience yelped. It's good that show was rated as 16+ and kids were not allowed here, because Lucy just took off her tank top, leaving herself only in quite kinky leather bra.

"Lucy stop it!" Mira shouted at her.

"Sorry, but it's too hot in here!" Lucy replied, continuing to dance, letting her short skirt to do it's job.

"Natsu!" Mira whispered to god slayer, coming closer to him, "I'm not going to strip with her! I'm not a shy girl but this is too much!"

But Natsu was busy with his own problem – it seems that Erza's brain turned off and now she was acting only by her instincts. She couldn't recognize Natsu but by smell she knew that it is someone she should protect at all costs. Also she sensed Mira's scent… "No! Evil witch! I won't let you touch my Emperor!" Erza vowed.

Audience was confused:

"Evil witch?! What's the twist is this?"

"So the singer are the actors too? Nice!"

"Why didn't she strip like the other girl?!"

"Her Emperor?! What's she talking about?! He's her enemy!"

"Sin! Get here!" Natsu called for frost wyrm, "We have to remove her from stage!"

"Get away from my Emperor, demon!" Erza was completely deranged, she rushed toward Mira and started to attack her in melee.

"Leave me alone you stupid bitch!" Mira yelled, jumping and making somersaults to avoid Erza's attacks, demonstrating her underwear, "You'll pay for this!"

"Natsu, what's going on?!" Sin entered the stage.

"OOOOOO! Look at this beast! Never saw such cool Special Effects!"

"Quickly, grab Erza and move her out of here!" Natsu ordered.

But before Sin could move Lucy dashed to him. "Cold! It's too hot in here! Sin, I need cold!" She jumped on frost wyrm and started to try to get inside of his skeletal belly.

"Lucy! Are you insane! Stop it!" Sin started to make somersaults in mid-air, trying to shake Lucy off. "Gray, help me! Cool her down a little!"

"Okay!" Gray took his casting stance "**Aisu Meiku…**"

"Mooo!" Suddenly Taurus appeared behind Gray and gave him a kick, sending him crashing into rear decorations. "Lucy-san! Let me cool your body down a little! Your body is the best!"

"THE BEST!" Audience shouted as Lucy took off her skirt, leaving herself in kinky leather lingerie only, she was still in heat.

"Your guild attracts perverts, Macky" Bob noted, closing his eyes, as Makarov tried to stop nose bleeding.

"My show!" Natsu yelled desperately, looking how his great idea was ruined.

"That's it bitch! **Satan Sōru!**" Mira was tired by Erza's assaults on her and performed her Take Over, eliciting powerful magic blast. Two girls started to fight using magic.

"Stop it!" Natsu rushed to stop Mira and Erza. "Or I'll punish both of you!"

"Somebody, help me!" Sin yelled, still trying to shake off Lucy, destroying decorations and sending frost balls toward audience.

"You stupid brute!" Gray was mad at Taurus, "I'll kick your ass!"

**"Senjin no…"** [War God's…]

**"Seiryū no…"** [Star Dragon's…]

**"Dākunesu…"** [Darkness…]

**"Aisu Meiku…" **[Ice Make…]

**"Moooo!"**

**"So hot in here!"**

**"Get off me you crazy bitch!"**

BOOM! CRASH! SMASH! Powerful magic was shaking entire building, making holes in its walls. Finally, the stage's half of theater crumbled, as Fairy Tail mages continued to fight each other, still with accompaniment of heavy music.

"Why'd it turn out like this?!" Makarov asked, crawling out from beneath the rubbles.

"Macky, hurry up and retire!" Yajima noted.

"OOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hearing the audience's shouts, Natsu turned around, and, to his shock, he understood that public is in complete rapture.

"Bravo!"

"Best show I ever saw!"

"Stripping girl is the best!"

"Awesome! It was great!"

Natsu quickly recomposed himself and bowed to the audience as his teammates continued to wreak havoc.

(End of Song)

* * *

Five hours later.

"I'm so sorry Natsu…" Erza continued to apologize since she came back to her senses. She fell on knees before him, still being greatly ashamed by her behavior during show.

"You're my oddity in feathers…" Natsu sighed, lifting her by armpits, and embracing tightly, "So, I'm your Emperor?" He asked, smiling.

"Yep…" Erza replied, blushing. She's so adorable…

In women's restroom, Lucy stood on all four, hugging the toilet bowl. "Somebody… kill me…" She moaned aguishly. Her head was aching like hell and she was periodically vomiting.

"You didn't deserve an easy death," Sin growled, he was watching over her.

"Oh! Sin… quieter, please…" Lucy moaned, "Where's my clothes? What happened to me?" She still was in underwear.

In Mirajane's makeup room, Gray tried to cheer her up. "Chin up, Mira" Gray said, "The show had phenomenal success!"

"I know," She-devil replied, "But we have four more performances planned, and all tickets were already sold out. What we gonna do? Theater has been destroyed, and I doubt that we can make Lucy that drunk again… How do we get out of this situation?"

"Let Natsu think about it" Gray replied, "He said that it's his show."

* * *

Outside, Makarov stood observing the half destroyed theater. "Retire!? No possible way!"

…And with that, looks like Fairy Tail will be staying the same for a while yet…

* * *

_Footnotes:_

**Deddo Vēvu** – Dead Wave

**Hikari Sōfū** – Light Blast

**Yōsei no Hōritsu** – Fairy Law (Lit. – Law of Fairy)

**Senjin no Saiken** – War God's Crushing Fist

**Hōritsu** **no Tōkeihaiki** – Law of the Frozen Wastelands

**Seiryū no Hōkō** – Star Dragon's Roar

**Satan Sōru** – Satan Soul

**Bentō** – Japanese homemade lunchbox.

* * *

Well, this is it people. Chapter fourteen has been completed. I hope it was enjoyable. Do not forget to leave a _**REVIEW**__!_ A lots of reviews will encourage me to work faster! See you in the next chapter – **Game without rules.**


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